- LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice
President Dick Cheney indicated on Thursday that the United States was
prepared to pursue its war against Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network beyond
Afghanistan's borders.
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- In an interview with the BBC's World Service, Cheney
said cells of the al Qaeda organisation -- fingered by the United States
for carrying out the September 11 suicide attacks -- were operating in
as many as 50 countries.
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- "We're working with the services of other countries
and other governments to try and wrap those organisations up," Cheney
said from Washington in a radio interview to be broadcast by the BBC at
0100 GMT on Friday.
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- "Where it's appropriate, we'll be prepared to use
military action should it be required in order to close down these operations...I'm
sure the campaign ahead will be a long one, but in the end I'm sure it
will be successful," he said.
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- Following the Northern Alliance advances against the
Taliban, Cheney looked beyond the fighting in Afghanistan and said the
United States would stay involved to help re-build the war-torn country.
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- "We've made it clear that we have no interest in
abandoning the country," Cheney said.
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- "We want to be actively involved with the Afghan
people in creating an environment that is healthy for them...and also ensures
that Afghanistan never again becomes a base for the conduct of terrorist
operations against the outside world."
-
- U.S. special forces were hunting for bin Laden in Afghanistan
on Thursday after weeks of U.S.-led air strikes and rapid advances by Northern
Alliance soldiers that had pushed the Taliban into a shrinking corner.
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- When asked if he thought the United States would find
bin Laden, Cheney said: "I do".
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