Jesse Jackson Considers Taliban Meeting; U.S. Reaction Cool

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Thursday that he is considering a trip to Afghanistan to meet with Taliban leaders, but U.S. officials said they believed the journey would serve no purpose.

Jackson said he received a telegram Wednesday from a Taliban representative inviting him to talk about resolving the issue of handing over Osama bin Laden “in a way that preserves dignity and integrity of all sides.” He said he is considering leading a private American delegation to talk about Bin Laden, listed by the U.S. government as the primary suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Jackson told Secretary of State Colin L. Powell of the invitation, apparently hoping to receive instructions for a back-channel diplomatic initiative. But Powell said he thought the trip would be pointless.

“He is free to travel,” 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.” Because the Bush administration will not negotiate with the Taliban, Powell said, Jackson could do no more than underline the terms that President Bush laid out in his speech to Congress last week.

“The Taliban regime knows what it must do and should do with respect to the presence of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, and also with respect to the [terrorist] bases and facilities in Afghanistan,” Powell said. “And as the president said, this is not an issue for negotiation.”

In addition to talking about Bin Laden, Jackson said he hoped to obtain the release of two American aid workers who were jailed along with six colleagues on charges of preaching Christianity, a crime in the strict Islamic country. The aid workers were arrested Aug. 3, prior to the terrorist attacks. U.S. officials fear that they could be in severe danger if the United States launches a military strike against Bin Laden in Afghanistan.

Jackson played such mediation roles several times during the Clinton administration, negotiating the release of American prisoners in Syria, Cuba and Yugoslavia.

Although Jackson implied that the initiative for the trip came from the Taliban, Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, was quoted by the Afghan Islamic Press news agency as saying the offer originated with Jackson. Zaeef said the Taliban’s religious leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, “has accepted his offer to mediate.”