Bush condems Taliban as diplomatic efforts fail

US president George Bush condemned Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers for harbouring Osama bin Laden and his followers as the United States today continued to press its military and diplomatic campaign against terror.

Peace groups marched in Washington, protesting that innocent lives could be lost in the coming retaliation against prime suspect bin Laden, believed to be hiding in Afghanistan.

In his weekly radio address, Bush said the Taliban, not the Afghan people, would be held responsible for harbouring terrorists.

‘‘The United States respects the people of Afghanistan and we are their largest provider of humanitarian support,’’ he said. ‘‘But we condemn the Taliban, and welcome the support of other nations in isolating that regime.’’

Bush’s condemnation of the Taliban followed two weeks of unsuccessful efforts to convince the Muslim rulers to hand over bin Laden.

A Pakistani delegation failed again yesterday and said the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, refused to discuss the Saudi exile.

One of the Pakistani participants said: ‘‘I don’t think that Mullah Omar is afraid of war.’’

The United States moved more equipment to the central Asia region, and more reservists donned uniforms after yesterday’s call-up.

The Pentagon said the Marine Corps would mobilise 191 reservists and the Navy 250 more to bring those activated so far to more than 16,600.

An additional 5,000 National Guardsmen were being trained for security duty at America’s commercial airports.

At Camp David, Bush consulted CIA director George Tenet, chief of staff Andrew Card and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

The White House released a photo showing the four around a table, a map of Afghanistan in the middle.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration has spelled out a policy for offering assistance to opponents of the Taliban, administration officials said today.

‘‘We do not want to choose who rules Afghanistan, but we will assist those who seek a peaceful, economically developing, Afghanistan, free of terrorism,’’ an administration official said, quoting from the policy memo.

Bush has made similar points in the past, but the memo is the first comprehensive explanation of US policy, officials said.

‘‘The Taliban do not represent the Afghan people, who never elected or chose the Taliban faction,’’ one of the officials said.

Bush aides were working on a plan to revive the struggling economy, including a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits and tax cuts.

And aides said Bush was negotiating with Democrats over a minimum wage increase.

Law enforcement officials working on the investigation of the attack, have estimated it cost terrorists at least $ 500,000 (£330,000) to pull off the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

FBI agents tracked the hijackers’ bank accounts, their communications and their travel tickets as they followed a trail that could lead to a small group of chief plotters in Europe and the Middle East, a law enforcement source said.

Bush used the radio address to give Americans an update on anti-terrorism efforts made in response to the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon.

He reviewed moves this week to tighten security at America’s 420 civilian airports; freeze financial sources used by terrorists; deploy the US armed forces to points around the globe and rally more international support for the struggle.

‘‘All these actions make clear, our war on terror will be much broader than the battlefields and beachheads of the past,’’ Bush said.

‘‘This war will be fought wherever terrorists hide, or run, or plan.’’

Activists and anarchists gathered in the streets in Washington chanting ‘‘no war.’’ Demonstrations who originally planned to oppose globalisation were transformed into an anti-war march.

On the diplomatic front, US under secretary of state John Bolton met Russian deputy foreign minister Georgy Mamedov to discuss forming an international c

coalition to fight terrorism.

International attention has focused particularly on former Soviet republics of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, which border Afghanistan and may provide a convenient platform for US strikes.

Taliban officials yesterday held meetings in several areas around Afghanistan to prepare the public to defend the country in case of a US attack, Kabul Radio reported.

‘‘Participants expressed their readiness to defend Afghanistan ... their readiness for jihad (holy war) against America,’’ it reported.