December 6, 2001	Thursday	Ramazan 20, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: The United States has no territorial designs on Afghanistan and will withdraw its forces once military objectives are achieved, a spokesman for US-led coalition Kenton Keith said on Wednesday.

“ We have gone there with clear military objectives of getting Osama bin Laden, dismantling Al-Qaeda network and Taliban government,” said Mr Keith at the daily briefing, allaying general apprehensions that US forces might stay in the region for a longer period.

“ We have no desire to remain in the area,” he said, replying to a question about the fears being expressed by the public that the US-led coalition forces might not withdraw from the region after the military objectives were achieved.

Asked as to how long it would take them to achieve the military objectives, Mr Keith said:”I could not give you the timetable.” About non-Afghan Taliban, he said they could not simply allow the non-Afghans, arrested by the Northern Alliance, to return to their countries without being interrogated.

On reports that some local commanders had requested the coalition forces to stop bombing the Tora Bora area to avoid civil casualties as they themselves had adequate strength to launch an offensive on hideouts of Osama, he said he had no such information. However, he said the coalition had been coordinating with a number of commanders who shared their objectives.

Replying to a question, Mr Keith said the coalition wanted to see the Taliban finished as a political and military force. He said that in Kandahar and some other pockets in the north, the Taliban were still holding out.

“Of course a great deal of work remains to be done; of course there will be many difficulties ahead,” he added.

Mr Keith said the Taliban could lay down their arms now and could do a service to the Afghan people by allowing the future of the country to be a happy one.

“Politically, socially, militarily, the message is clear: the writing is on the wall for the Taliban,” he said and added that some of the Taliban had realized this and were deserting Mulla Omar.

“The Taliban have nowhere to go and they are being left behind — not by the coalition, not by any outside force, but by their own people,” he said.