December 24, 2001	Monday	Shawwal 8, 1422

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WASHINGTON, Dec 23: If Taliban leader Mulla Omar and Osama bin Laden are captured, they will be handed over to international justice but could also be tried in Afghanistan.

An indication to this effect was given by the Chairman of the Afghan interim administration, Hamid Karzai, in an interview with CNN on Sunday, a day after he assumed office in Kabul.

“We will deliver him to international justice. We will deliver him to the United States,” Mr Karzai said when asked how his administration would deal with Osama bin Laden if he was found.

On Mulla Omar, about whose whereabouts some information was received “a couple of days ago”, Mr Karzai said the Taliban leader was responsible for killing thousands of Afghans and for bringing suffering and terrorism to Afghanistan. He would be tried in Afghanistan and if there was a case against him internationally, “we will deliver him there also”.

Mr Karzai spoke quietly, without rhetoric, and came across in the interview as a serious, sober person.

He said he had no precise information about Mulla Omar, but some indications were received two days ago. These were being followed.

Asked whether he agreed with Gen Musharraf’s assessment that Osama bin Laden might have been killed in the US bombing of Tora Bora, Mr Karzai said he had no information on this. If Osama bin Laden was dead, that would be good news because a “menace will no longer be there”.