ISLAMABAD, May 23: A letter purportedly signed by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, and handed to a Pakistani journalist, said he and Osama bin Laden are “alive and safe with the grace of God”.

The source of the letter, sent anonymously several days ago to a reporter in Chaman, a town on the border with Afghanistan, could not be independently verified.

Handwritten in Kandahari Pushto, it said the Taliban movement was alive to the call for a holy war which would spread beyond Afghanistan.

“The passion of holy war is still in our hearts. We know that our men are choosing a path between life and death,” said the letter.

“Now we are choosing a path of death that would bring death to infidels,” it continued. “Our jihad is not confined to Afghanistan alone, it spreads to many countries.

“Those willing to sacrifice their lives are ready for action.”

The author of the letter threatened the journalist with death if the communique was not publicised.

“If you do not broadcast our warning you will face the same fate as that of Americans in Afghanistan and Daniel Pearl in Pakistan,” it said, referring to the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered in Karachi.

The letter denied any Taliban involvement in the Karachi suicide attack on May 8 when a car loaded with explosives ploughed into a minibus at the Sheraton Hotel, killing 11 French nationals and three Pakistanis.

Newspaper reports in the Middle East said that Mullah Omar’s personal secretary and spokesman, Tayyab Agha, delivered the letter to the journalist.

But the reporter in Chaman said it was received anonymously— AFP