U.S. to share evidence

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U.S. to Share bin Laden Evidence 09/23/2001 11:15 AM EDT Email this StoryBy LOU KESTEN WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States will soon share evidence with allies that details how Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist network are tied to the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush administration officials said Sunday."In the near future we will be able to put out a document linking him to this attack," Secretary of State Colin Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press.While Cabinet members made the talk show rounds, President Bush was at Camp David in Maryland, where Marines raised the American flag to full staff for the first time since the attacks. Bush was silent during the ceremony, which was meant to symbolize recovery and "show the unity of the American people in this endeavor," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.From Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban, believed sheltering bin Laden, claimed the exiled Saudi millionaire was missing. U.S. officials were skeptical "They know where he is," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said on CBS'"Face the Nation.""It's just not believable that the Taliban do not know where the network can be located and turned over and expelled."Rumsfeld, Powell and Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, said the administration has made contact with Syria and Iran, two countries the United States has accused of sponsoring terrorism, about helping fight terrorism. But all said that terrorist-sponsoring countries must end all support or face more penalties."We are not going to declare that there are good terrorists and bad terrorists," Rice said on "Fox News Sunday.""If you sponsor terrorism, you're hostile to the United States."Jordan's King Abdullah, one of the moderate Arab leaders recruited for the anti-terrorist fight, said his country was "fully committed to supporting the U.S. and the international community in whatever is asked of Jordan.""Today we expect everybody in the international coalition to decide where they stand," he said on ABC's "This Week.""No sitting on the fence is going to be allowed by anybody." Powell said dismantling the al-Qaida network is the first goal. He also indicated that any military action in Afghanistan, where bin Laden is believed to be hiding, will not be on the scale of the Gulf War."Let's not assume there will be a large-scale move," Powell said. "I don't think we should even consider a large-scale war at this point."Powell, Rice and Rumsfeld also denied reports that Saudi Arabia had rejected U.S. requests to use a Saudi air force base to launch attacks against bin Laden's group."They have been very responsive to everything we have asked for," Powell said.Powell said the president's decision late Saturday to lift penalties imposed against India and Pakistan after the two nations tested nuclear weapons in 1998 was "an important signal that we will stand by our friends who stand by us." He said he was confident that Pakistan's help in the fight against terrorism would not spark internal conflict there.As the Pentagon rolled out B-52 bombers and moved more troops and equipment into place in the Persian Gulf, America's Middle East allies stepped up to support the operation. The United Arab Emirates cut ties with Afghanistan's Taliban leadership, and NATO ally Turkey said it would let American military planes use its airspace and airports.Bush and Russian President Putin spoke for an hour by phone on Saturday; it was their third talk since the attacks. "We must unite forces of all civilized society," Putin said.Bush signed a $15 billion aid package for the battered U.S. airline industry late Saturday, less than 24 hours after it cleared Congress.On the investigative front, the Justice Department said investigators found box-cutter knives - like those used by the hijackers - after searches of some planes on the ground after the hijackings. A federal official said the security sweep discovered box cutters in two airplanes, but the official did not know where.