The US has no interest in backing a proposed peace mission to Afghanistan by civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson, officials said today as Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, questioned the purpose of such a trip.
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Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said that he was considering an invitation from representatives of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban to discuss U.S. pressure to surrender Islamic militant Osama bin Laden.
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A number of officials, from Mr Powell to his deputy to his spokesman, all said the State Department would not encourage Rev Jackson to accept an invitation he said he had received from the Taliban to mediate peace with the regime accused of harbouring suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.
"We have nothing to negotiate, they know what our position is," Mr Powell said.
He said Washington would not move to stop Rev Jackson from travelling to Afghanistan but said he didn't see the point of going.
"He is free to travel," Mr Powell said. "I don't know what purpose would be served right now, since the position of the United States and the international community is quite clear."
Rev Jackson announced he had been invited by the Taliban earlier today but then said he had no immediate plans to embark on the mission.
"I do not want to go. I have no plans to go," he said.
The Taliban denied they had issued an invitation to Rev Jackson but said they would welcome his offer to travel to Afghanistan for talks on the bin Laden situation.
But even as Rev Jackson made his initial announcement, US officials poured cold water on the proposal.
"We're not interested in a dialogue," Deputy Secretary of State Mr Richard Armitage said. "We're interested in action and no negotiation. The demands are not subject to dialogue."
Mr Powell and Mr Armitage said the demands were "not negotiable" and that if the militia wanted to avoid possible retaliatory strikes it must hand over bin Laden and eliminate his al-Qaeda network.
Mr Armitage said the Taliban appeared to be stalling on turning over bin Laden who the United States has said is the prime suspect in the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington that left thousands dead or missing.
"It seems to me they're trying to delay making a decision on their own," Mr Armitage said.
State Department spokesman Mr Richard Boucher went further than both Mr Powell or Mr Armitage, saying if Rev Jackson went, he would be totally on his own.
"He'll have to make his own decision about talking with the Taliban," Mr Boucher said. "Any such discussion would be Reverend Jackson's own initiative or decision, he would not be carrying a message from the United States."
AFP
