Taleban orders Afghan refugees home

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The reclusive head of the Taleban has ordered Afghans to go back home as the United Nations appealed for urgent funds to help some 7.5 million refugees survive an oncoming harsh winter.

The US has demanded that the Taleban hand over terror suspect Osama bin Laden and has threatened to attack Afghanistan if it continues to harbour the Saudi-born militant.

Bin Laden and his network have been accused of the suicide hijack attacks on New York and Washington two weeks ago, which have left nearly 7000 people dead or missing.

Fears of such an attack has seen an estimated 1.5 million Afghan refugees head towards neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Iran.

But Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taleban's reclusive head, has ordered all Afghans to return home, saying an attack was unlikely.

"America has no reason, justification or evidence for attacking," he said in a message to his people.

"Therefore, all those who have been displaced internally or externally are instructed to return to their original place of residence," he said.

The UN has painted a grim picture of a country devastated by war, a ruined economy, drought and now possible US military strikes.

At the 23-year-old Bhadbher camp near Peshawar, thousands of Afghans live in mud homes. Barefoot children, most born in Pakistan, have little chance of education with no schools for miles around.

"I will not go back as long as the Taleban are there. I was in Kabul but the religious police caught me and beat me because I trimmed my beard," one refugee said.

In Geneva, the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, has appealed for $252 million in emergency funding for the refugees.

The UNHCR operation for Afghanistan is the biggest since the 1999 refugee crisis in Kosovo when hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians were driven from their homes by Serb forces.

Earlier estimates of 5.5 million refugees has risen dramatically and could reach 7.5 million, according to the UN.

Figures of those displaced internally, by conflict or drought, was expected to double to 2.2 million, according to the UN Office of Humanitarian Assistance for Afghanistan's spokeswoman, Stephanie Bunker.

"The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has reached a crisis point. Their grip on survival is tragically slipping," Ms Bunker said.

And as fears escalate, neighbouring Pakistan - already home to around 2 million Afghan refugees - has struggled to keep its border closed with thousands huddled along the 2240 km (1400-mile) border.

Frontiers minister Sarfraz warned it would cost $122 million to cope with one million Afghan refugees for six months, and that this figure did not include food support.

Pakistan has suggested it may have to open its gates if many more Afghans arrive seeking refuge.

The country shares a long border with Afghanistan and hosts thousands of Afghan refugees, some of whom have been there since the 1979-1989 war against Soviet occupiers.

Pakistan has maintained close ties with the Taleban for years, but has been careful to differentiate between fighting terrorism and battling the Afghans, who have sheltered bin Laden since 1996.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has backed Washington but has also said he hopes an attack can be avoided.

US and Pakistani officials have ended two days of talks in "complete unanimity" on military preparations for combating bin Laden's terrorist network in Afghanistan, a Pakistani official said.

Although no details of the agreement were announced, General Rashid Qureshi - spokesman for President Pervez Musharraf - said there was "no difference of opinion between Pakistan and America on the issue of combating terrorism."

"There is complete unanimity between both sides to fight against terrorism," Qureshi said.

He said Pakistan was not involved "in any action plan against Afghanistan" but "our efforts are to crush terrorism wherever it is."

"Pakistan cannot and can never join in any hostile action against Afghanistan or the Afghan people," Foreign Ministry spokesman Riaz Mohammed Khan said.

"We are deeply conscious that the destinies of the two people are intertwined."

But despite its support for the anti-terrorism campaign, Pakistan's government opposes efforts to back the northern alliance of opposition Afghan groups, which has been fighting the Taleban since the hardline clerical movement seized power in 1996.

In Pakistan, Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, governor of the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, said the border would stay closed.

But Minister for Frontiers Abbas Sarfraz hinted at a change in policy by admitting the border could be opened "if the situation becomes untenable, or if there is an attack".

For Pakistan, hospitality fatigue is taking over. It says its refusal to accept more refugees is based on lack of resources and security concerns.

"Pakistan will not be able to open its borders for two reasons," Governor Shah said. "Firstly, the (Afghan opposition) Northern Alliance openly criticise Pakistan.

"If people come from those areas, they could indulge in sabotage.

"Secondly, the Taleban have also threatened dire consequences if attacked," he said, referring to threats to declare a holy war on those who support a US attack.