Nations Join Coalition to Battle Terror

The United States appealed to the world this week for a global war against terrorism. By Friday, U.S. officials claimed, the fight had quietly begun.

From India to Syria, Australia to Abu Dhabi, countries around the world took the first concrete steps to help the Bush administration unravel the labyrinthine network of militant Osama bin Laden and, more broadly, target the roots of terrorism.

The pledges range from playing a major role in any U.S.-led military retaliation and providing critical intelligence needed to track the Bin Laden cells in at least 35 countries, to cutting off sources of funding and keeping oil prices down.

“The response already is truly heartening,” said a senior administration official. “We’re making real progress.”

Bin Laden is considered by the U.S. government to be a prime suspect in Tuesday’s attacks in New York and Washington.

In contrast to the months of slow coalition-building after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the U.S. is lining up specific commitments quickly.

Close to the heart of potential military action, India provided the U.S. with intelligence details on the camps of Bin Laden’s followers in Afghanistan, including facilities at Asababad, Sarkanar, Ghazni, Jalalabad, Khost, Paktya and Kandahar, according to diplomatic sources.

India also pledged logistical help to the Pentagon, allowing the U.S. to use Indian soil as a staging post for troops or equipment in the event of a military strike in the region.

In the Middle East, the Bush administration won pledges of cooperation from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the two Arab countries most critical to a counter-terrorism coalition. Along with Pakistan, they are the only countries that have diplomatic relations with Afghanistan. The UAE provides critical trade with Afghanistan, while wealthy Saudis have long funded Bin Laden’s operations and his followers.

Saudi Arabia rallied the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to keep oil supplies flowing if the attacks in New York and Washington--or subsequent retaliation--disrupted oil markets. “There’s no reason to panic” over prices, the kingdom said.

And the UAE is expected to soon close the diplomatic mission maintained by the Taliban, the Islamic movement that rules 95% of Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials.

The UAE has told the U.S. that “they’re with us more than 100%,” a senior State Department official said.

The reply from Pakistan, the most important player in the new U.S.-led war against terrorism, is still pending. The State Department had expected a reply Friday, but Pakistani officials say they are in no rush.

One of the most encouraging responses came from Syria, which is still on the list of the nations that the U.S. says support Islamic extremist groups such as Hezbollah. “President [Bashar] Assad sent to President Bush a strong letter of support in efforts against terrorism,” Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told reporters at the State Department.

Syria, which also hosts militant Palestinian groups, will be the most critical Mideast state in the wider war on terrorism.

In Syria and elsewhere, U.S. ambassadors are delivering detailed requests for actions in three broad categories, the State Department official said.

The first is to strongly and publicly endorse the U.S. initiative. Next, the U.S. wants nations to take actions such as closing down bases or other operations linked to extremist groups, arrest people associated with those groups, track and block their financial resources and eliminate all forms of sanctuary.

The third category is to work with the U.S. on enhancing security, sharing intelligence and, depending on what retaliation Washington decides to take, assist at that time with more specific requests.

“This has become a new benchmark, a new way of measuring the relationship and what we can do together in the future, and what kind of support we can provide to you in the future across the whole range of issues and activities,” Powell said.

Powell also appealed for support from Muslim governments in Kuwait, Bahrain, Tunisia and Algeria. In Central Asia, Muslim governments near Afghanistan, including Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, also have pledged assistance, he added.

Several European countries, such as Britain, already have pledged military assistance, while others have opened their intelligence files to the U.S.

Elsewhere, Australia activated the ANZUS Treaty with the U.S. and New Zealand, which effectively means that any attack on America is seen as an attack on members of the alliance. As with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which took similar steps Wednesday, that step could open the way for logistical or military cooperation in the event of military action.