Mr Tony Blair signalled a new phase in allied action against the Taliban regime yesterday as he ruled-out any pause in the bombing of Afghanistan. And he confirmed that Britain and America were "giving additional help to the Northern Alliance" as he told MPs: "We are in the process of establishing the ability to take further military action against both the Taliban regime and the al-Qaeda network."
Mr Blair was reporting to the Commons shortly after his latest telephone conversation with President Bush, details of which were not disclosed by 10 Downing Street.
During Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons a Labour MP, Mr Alan Simpson, pressed Mr Blair on calls by relief agencies for a pause in the bombing of Afghanistan to ensure the delivery of food to sustain people there through the winter. However, Mr Blair said the Taliban were the main obstacle to UN convoys on humanitarian missions. And he insisted Osama bin Laden would attempt further atrocities if he was not stopped.
"We have no option but to continue this, to bring it to a successful conclusion, and to close down that terrorist network once and for all," declared Mr Blair.
In an assessment of the conduct of the war on terrorism to date, Mr Blair told the House: "We have now significantly damaged the Taliban's military capability, including fast jets, transport, helicopters, and inflicted very severe damage in their command and control centres, early warning and air defence systems, radar and surface-to-air missile sites." Confirming additional help for the Northern Alliance, Mr Blair said they were now "taking territory from the Taliban".
At the same time Mr Blair agreed with the Conservative leader, Mr Iain Duncan Smith, that a new government in Afghanistan must be "broadly based" and include other tribes in addition to the Northern Alliance.
Mr Duncan Smith said the aim of bringing bin Laden to justice would be "immensely difficult to achieve" until there was a government in Afghanistan "determined to rid itself of bin Laden and al-Qaeda." Mr Blair replied: "It is extremely important both that we have a successor to the Taliban regime that has broad support in that country, and that we commit ourselves to assisting that regime in the reconstruction of Afghanistan."
Mr Blair also told Mr Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, that the coalition was urgently reviewing all ways to the creation of "safe corridors" to get food into Afghanistan. "The more territory that is under some sort of control by forces hostile to the Taliban the more aid we can get into Afghanistan," he said. Earlier yesterday, British defence sources said US air strikes would now turn increasingly from fixed targets to Taliban troops deployed in the field.
Downing Street urged the public to "keep a sense of perspective" in the wake of the anthrax scares and alarms which swept Britain on Monday, while police warned hoaxers they could face prison sentences. The Chief Medical Officer again repeated Britain was well prepared for the possibility of any anthrax attack.