KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar says in a message delivered on the eve of a Muslim holiday that the United States will be defeated in Afghanistan.
Omar, the Taliban's reclusive supreme commander, said in a message delivered on the eve of the Eid al-Adha holiday that U.S. forces will find only dishonor and "a bed of thorns" in Afghanistan, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. The holiday marks the end of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
In the message, Omar urges Afghans to oppose President Hamid Karzai's "puppet" government, saying, "Break off all relations with the stooge administration in Kabul!" and asserting that the Karzai was part of an "evil process of colonialization and occupation."
The Times said Omar also seemed to betray some misgivings about the idea of talks between the Afghan government and elements of the insurgency, which are aimed at reconciling parts of the Taliban to Karzai's presidency.
"The invading Americans want (holy warriors) to surrender, under the pretext of negotiations," Omar said. "This is something impossible."
