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Anti-Taliban claim to have secured surrender of al-Qaeda fighters

Anti-Taliban leaders claim they have finally secured the surrender of al-Qaeda fighters in the eastern region of Tora Bora.

However, as Jill Colgan reports from Kabul, the United States is not convinced all al-Qaeda leaders will go through with the surrender and has vowed to keep up its intensive air strikes on the region:

"The mountainous region of Tora Bora has faced an intensive ground and air assault for more than a week, with Afghan and American troops combining to try and flush out an estimated one-thousand al-Qaeda fighters. Local anti-Taliban commander, Haji Zaman claims he's now negotiated a surrender with al-Qaeda leaders and will take possession of their weapons later today. There are still concerns however that some al-Qaeda fighters will refuse to concede defeat and the Pentagon says it will continue its strikes until it's sure a surrender has been secured. In Kabul, attempts have been made by UN special envoy, Lakhtar Brahimi to ensure a peaceful handover to the new interim government. After meeting with Northern Alliance leaders, he reported there was still a commitment to power sharing, but admitted there were serious issues still to be resolved on the composition of an international peacekeeping force.

12/12/01 11:33:16 | ABC Radio Australia News

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