World News 07-12-2001 Merry Christmas: War Is Over who: Taliban what: Agree to hand over last bastion as al-Qaeda cave stronghold falls where: Afghanistan when: Last night snippet: "The Taliban conceded last night that their rule was at an end after they agreed to surrender Kandahar, their last sanctuary and spiritual stronghold," reports The Telegraph. "Supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar threw in the towel by announcing that he would hand over the city to a neutral governor," reports The Sun`s Neil Syson from Kabul. "He had earlier vowed that his men would fight to the death to defend Kandahar, their spiritual home but in the end they simply quit or fled to hide in the mountains." "In east Afghanistan, anti-Taliban fighters began the systematic search of caves around Tora Bora for Osama bin Laden," says The Financial Times. "Pentagon officials said the fighters were accompanied by teams of US special forces who were directing air strikes of bunker-busting bombs towards al-Qaeda caves." US soldiers are under orders to capture or kill Osama bin Laden (The Independent and The FT are still formally referring to him as "Mr bin Laden"; in The Sun he has become simply "Bin") but so far they have found no trace. Hardline US defence secretary said last night that there was no way Mullah Omar would be allowed to negotiate a quiet, post-war life for himself. Omar "does not deserve the medal of freedom," he said. "The prime minister, Tony Blair, refused to discuss the fate of specific individuals in the Taliban regime," reports Mark Oliver in The Guardian, "and said the military campaign in Afghanistan had made the world a safer place. He hailed the imminent fall of the Talian as a `fantastic thing`." [... more]

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