November 15, 2001	Thursday	Shaba’an 28, 1422

DUBAI, Nov 14: An Arab television reporter propelled to fame by the Afghan crisis said on Wednesday he narrowly escaped a US missile strike on his office in Kabul only to be shot at and beaten by angry anti-Taliban Afghans.

Tayseer Allouni, Kabul correspondent for Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite channel, reappeared on screens around the Arab world two days after fleeing Kabul fearing that a collapse in Taliban authority would trigger mob violence.

“My experience has been bitter...I can’t speak about it,” said Allouni, seen by US officials as an admirer of the Taliban and by Arab fans as a lone voice against the US-led bombing of Afghanistan.

“We have seen things I never dreamt of seeing. What I saw is indescribable. I confess I am psychologically shocked.”

Allouni, a Syrian, became a celebrity in the Arab world with his reports from Kabul because, until a few days ago, the widely watched Al Jazeera was the only television channel allowed by the Taliban to broadcast from Kabul during the crisis.

Allouni said that minutes after he and his crew quit the city on Monday, Al Jazeera’s offices there were hit by a US missile. Later, fleeing to the eastern province of Paktia, they were harrased, shot at and beaten up by anti-Taliban Afghans.

The circumstances of the US strike were not clear.

“It seems that few minutes after we left, the office was bombed by American planes,” Allouni said. “I don’t know the extent of the damage, but from what I was told...I assume it was a mistake.”

MORE SHOCKS ON WAY: His team were in for more shocks as they moved through the Afghan countryside, encountering an angry group of men before being rescued by neutral Afghans in Paktia.

He told Al Jazeera viewers from Paktia that the Taliban have quit the province and that local people have formed a ruling council there until the fate of the country becomes clear.

“We had a big problem that endangered our lives...There was a barrier manned by irresponsible young people who opened fire on us, took our car, stripped us of everything we had and searched our pockets.”

“Then these men (rescuers) came and returned our car and all our belongings and apologised for what we had gone through, in terms of humiliation and beating.”

Allouni did not say why he thought his team had been attacked. But a number of Arabs in Afghanistan have been killed this week following the collapse of Taliban rule by anti-Taliban Afghans taking revenge for years of support for the Taliban from Arab Muslim extremist “volunteers”.

Allouni said without elaborating that he and his team remained in danger despite having some protection from their rescuers. He said he had been instructed by his bosses to flee Kabul if the prospect of a Taliban withdrawal from the city or a collapse in Taliban rule resulted in a dangerous situation.

Al Jazeera angered the United States last month by broadcasting pre-taped speeches of Osama bin Laden and leading members of his Al Qaeda organization.

The United States complained to the Qatari government about the channel, saying it hoped it would soften its coverage.

Qatar’s outspoken Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani said such a demand would be rejected.

NEW TEAM: The network’s director said Al Jazeera was planning to return to Kabul in force.

“We have a new team led by three journalists who are en route at this moment for Pakistan from where they hope to go into Afghanistan,” director-geenral Mohamma Jassem al-Ali told AFP.

“For the time being, Al-Jazeera is covering Afghanistan thanks to the foreign press agencies,” he said.

“But we are in Afghanistan also thanks to Afghan journalists,” equipped with a videophone by the Qatar-based satellite station, Ali added.—AFP