Nowhere to hide for terrorists vows Bush

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush said yesterday that six months after strikes on America the war on terrorism had entered a new phase to deny militants sanctuary around the world.

At the same time, United States and Afghan troops battled to mop up al Qaeda holdouts in eastern Afghanistan.

But as the US mounted anti-rebel operations in the Philippines, Georgia and Yemen, routed al Qaeda and Taleban fighters in Afghanistan were said to be regrouping again in several provinces around Kabul.

The emergence of a potential new battleground - with thousands of Afghan Government forces scrambling to head off a fresh uprising - came as 9 days of fighting around Gardez in eastern Afghanistan, appeared to draw towards a close.

The Afghan campaign launched by Bush in October has ousted the ruling Taleban and routed al Qaeda forces in retaliation for the attacks on America.

However, the whereabouts of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his protector Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar remain a mystery.

"Every terrorist must be made to live as an international fugitive, with no place to settle or organise, no place to hide, no Governments to hide behind and not even a safe place to sleep," Bush told 1300 people gathered to remember September 11 on the White House South Lawn.

"We will not send American troops to every battle, but America will actively prepare other nations for the battles ahead."

He said the United States was providing military training and equipment to the Philippines, Georgia and Yemen.

As Vice-President Dick Cheney embarked on a Middle East tour to drum up support against Iraq, Bush also expressed his fears about nations accused of sponsoring terrorism and believed to be developing weapons of mass destruction.

" ... we know that these weapons, in the hands of terrorists, would unleash blackmail and genocide and chaos," he said.

"Our coalition must act deliberately, but inaction is not an option," he said.

He did not name Iraq, Iran and North Korea - countries he has called an "axis of evil."

Bells rang, flags waved and Americans cried at ceremonies in New York, where two planes destroyed the World Trade Centre, outside Washington where a third plane struck the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, where a fourth airliner crashed in a field.

Television networks repeatedly played recordings of the jets speeding into the towers, of frantic people fleeing the collapsing buildings and fires ravaging the US military headquarters.

In Shanksville, Pennsylvania, church bells rang to recall the moment when United Airlines flight 93 plunged into a lonely nearby field as passengers and crew battled hijackers.

"I think they [those who died] would have wanted us to make a better world. They would have wanted us to show the terrorists that they cannot defeat us," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at a ceremony just blocks from where the twin towers collapsed.

In Washington, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said efforts to complete repairs to the Pentagon by September 11 were ahead of schedule.

"Six months ago today, you could see black smoke, thick smoke and flames rising from this building," he said.

The day of remembrance concluded in New York with the launching of a Tribute of Light, two powerful beams aimed skyward to symbolise the twin towers.

Thousands of miles away in Afghanistan, the battle near Gardez, capital of Paktia, looked close to ending after nine days of intense fighting.

Hundreds of Afghan troops with rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles moved in for a possible final assault on al Qaeda fighters in the rugged, freezing mountains.

With the Afghan forces closing in, the United States withdrew more troops from the battle zone, where a dwindling al Qaeda force estimated at 200 remains holed-up in caves.

- REUTERS

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