The United States has rejected a fresh offer by the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden. The Taliban offered to hand over bin Laden to a neutral country if sufficient evidence is provided to incriminate him in the attacks on America.
A White House spokesperson said that the President had made it clear there would be no negotiations. The United States has consistently rejected any Taliban offer that fell short of complete and unconditional compliance with its demands.
In another development, the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, warned that the United States will be taught "a much more bitter lesson" than the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
Defeated Soviet forces pulled out of Afghanistan in 1989 after aiding the Afghan communist government in a war against anticommunist Muslim guerrillas since 1979.
"It's true that we have not started our real battle against the United States because of their technological superiority," he told the Saudi daily Al-Watan. "But, God willing, we will not greet them with roses," he said.
