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WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush urged world leaders Wednesday
to aid the United States openly or even secretly in a campaign
against terrorism and those responsible for last week's attacks in
New York and Washington.
"Help us round up these people," he said, eight days after
hijackers flew airlines into the World Trade Center twin towers and
the Pentagon, killing thousands.
Bush spoke with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri,
leader of the world's most-populous Muslim nation, at his side in
the Oval Office, and one of several foreign leaders he has spoken
with since the attacks.
Bush mounted his diplomatic campaign while Pentagon officials
worked on plans for military retaliation and his administration and
Congress worked on legislation to help the economy, including the
battered airlines industry.
The stock market fell sharply for the second time in three days,
as new job cuts sent shudders through the airlines and aircraft
industry.
Bush said that some nations may "take a more active role than
others" in battling terrorism. At the same time, he said, "Some
nations will be comfortable supporting covert activities, some
nations will only be comfortable with providing information. Others
will be helpful and will only be comfortable supporting financial
matters. I understand that."
As he has repeatedly in recent days, the president urged the
Taliban rulers of Afghanistan to turn over Osama bin Laden, the
suspected chief culprit behind last week's attacks.
The administration prevailed on Pakistan last week to pressure
the Taliban to comply.
In a nationally televised speech during the day, Pakistani
President Pervez Musharraf sought to reassure his country the war
against terrorism does not target Islam. While Musharraf has
pledged to help the United States, his nation has also been the
site of anti-American rallies in recent days as Bush steps up his
rhetorical attack against bin Laden.
In Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, the Taliban leader said he
was ready for talks with Washington, according to the Afghan
Islamic Press, a Pakistan-based news agency with close ties to the
ruling regime.
"Afghanistan foes not have resources, nor is Osama that
powerful, nor does he have contacts with the outside world to carry
out or plan such attacks," Mullah Mohammed Omar was quoted as
saying. "We appeal to the American government for tolerance and
ask it to conduct an investigation and track down the real
culprits."
The death toll in the attacks at the World Trade Center and
Pentagon are expected to top 5,000.
Attorney General John Ashcroft, leading the U.S. investigation,
used the wounded Pentagon as a backdrop for a declaration that
terrorists had benefitted from the help of some foreign
governments.
"It is pretty clear that the networks that conduct these kind
of events are harbored, supported, sustained and protected by a
variety of foreign governments," he said.
"It is time for those governments to understand with crystal
clarity that the United States of America will not tolerate that
kind of support for networks that would inflict this kind of damage
on the American people."
In addition to his meeting with the Indonesian leader, Bush also
was scheduled to see the foreign ministers of Russia and Germany
during the day.
He called South Korean President Kim dae Jung, who promised to
participate in the international coalition, and the two leaders
indicated they still plan to meet in Seoul next month, Fleischer
said.
At the same time, the administration is moving to get the money
to pursue its effort. Bush signed into law Tuesday a $40 billion
package, most of which will go to recovery efforts in New York
City, Washington and southwestern Pennsylvania where four
hijacked planes crashed last week, killing thousands of people
and to battle terrorism.
He was meeting Wednesday with Democratic and Republican
lawmakers to discuss a financial for reviving an economy stung by
the Sept. 11 attacks. Fleischer said Bush was likely to embrace
some economic stimulus, though he was open to what form it would
take.
The president also signed a congressional resolution authorizing
him to use military force against the terrorists responsible for
the attacks, the worst in U.S. history.
These efforts came as the exhausting search for victims and the
cleanup continued at New York's World Trade Center, at the Pentagon
and near Shanksville, Pa., and as federal authorities ratcheted up
their hunt for collaborators to the terrorists who killed
themselves and thousands others in the attacks.
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