Amsterdam, 21 September

 Bush sets demands to Taliban 
 
an extraordinary address to a joint session of Congress and the House of Representatives

In an extraordinary joint session of the US Congress and the House or Representatives, the American President George W. Bush has set four clear cut demands to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

• "Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of al-Qaida who hide in your land."
• "Release all foreign nationals -- including American citizens -- you have unjustly imprisoned, and protect foreign journalists, diplomats, and aid workers in your country."
• "Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and hand over every terrorist, and every person in their support structure, to appropriate authorities."
• "Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating."

President Bush added uncompromisingly:

"These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."

About the Taliban he said:

"We have seen their kind before. They are the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the twentieth century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions , by abandoning every value except the will to power , they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies."

Bush repeated his earlier statement that it is not a fight against Islam:

"The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics, a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam. The terrorists? directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans, and make no distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children."

President Bush warned in his address all nations:

" Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."

The fight against terrorism is not just America's fight said Bush:

" This is not, however, just America's fight. And what is at stake is not just America's freedom. This is the world's fight. This is civilization's fight. This is the fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom."

| Full text of the Speech |