Fresh proposals

Facing U.N. sanctions over terrorism suspect Osama bin Laden, Afghanistan_s Taliban movement was reported on Tuesday to have made fresh proposals to avoid expelling him from the country to stand trial. A spokesman in the office of the Taliban_s supreme ruler, Mullah Mohammed Omar, suggested that the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) send a team to monitor bin Laden_s movements to ensure he was not engaged in terrorism. Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), an independent news agency, quoted the spokesman as saying the OIC monitors would “watch over him so that bin Laden_s opponents are sure that he is not using Afghanistan against them.” The proposal falls far short of U.S. and U.N. demands that the Taliban expel bin Laden, who is charged with masterminding the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August last year in which more than 200 people died. It was aired weeks before sanctions against Afghanistan_s Ariana airline go into effect to force the Taliban to hand over bin Laden, reported to be in hiding near the eastern Afghan town of Jalalabad or the southern city of Kandahar. Last week, bin Laden was said to have asked for safe passage from Afghanistan to another Islamic country, its identity known only to himself and Omar, in an attempt to solve the deadlock over U.S. demands that he be expelled to face trial.