TEHRAN U.S. and Taleban officials were scheduled to meet in Islamabad yesterday, according to a diplomatic source in the Pakistani capital.

According to the source, the two countries' officials will meet during the two-day visit of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca to Islamabad. The source said that Ms. Rocca was keen to meet with Taleban envoy to Islamabad Abd as-Salam Zaeef.

The discussions are taking place under the pretext of the Osama bin Laden issue. The Taleban, by sheltering Bin Laden, has given an excuse to U.S. officials to hold talks with the extremists.

This is not the first time that U.S. officials are holding meetings with Taleban leaders, bringing to light their support of the militia.

In late April, informed sources reported that U.S. diplomat James P. Chalan visited Afghanistan. It was the third time that U.S. officials had traveled to Kabul in two weeks. The first time, a U.S. delegation, under the pretext of examining issues related to Afghan refugees, met with top Taleban officials.

U.S. diplomats have also used the excuse of discussing drug trafficking to meet Taleban leaders.

In early July, Mohammad Hasan Ja'fari, the leader of the Afghan Cultural Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Afghanistan, talking with the TEHRAN TIMES, criticized the U.S. policy in respect to Afghanistan and said, "Washington, time and again sends secret delegations to Kabul to meet with the Taleban. "If the U.S. stops support of the Taleban, the militia will not be able to survive, even for one day" Ja'fari said.

The U.S. role in the case of Bin Laden is dubious, since it could have arrested him if it wanted to, suggest many Afghan experts.

"Other countries, such as Pakistan, should also stop meddling in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. We were expecting that President Pervez Musharraf would try to put his house in order and stop the interference in Afghanistan's affairs," Ja'fari told the TEHRAN TIMES at the time.

In mid-June, the leader of the extremist Taleban militia, Mulla Muhammad Omar, was quoted as saying that the activities of the Saudi national Osama bin Laden are under control.

The Pakistani news agency ANN said that Mulla Omar, in an interview with United Press International, announced that Bin Laden does not have the right to issue Islamic religious decrees (fatwas) and any of his orders that make it obligatory to kill someone, including Americans, are void.

Omar's comments reveal the ugly alliance between the U.S. and the fanatical and inhumane Taleban movement, despite the superficial cat and mouse game the two are playing.

A mere glimpse at the events which led to the brutal occupation of Afghanistan by Taleban forces is enough for any vigilant observer to trace the hand of the CIA throughout the affair.

During the popular resistance against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the CIA set up a number of bases in Pakistan under the guise of religious seminaries. In effect, these bases, which were funded by the CIA and run under the close surveillance and cooperation of the notorious ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) of the Pakistani military, became the bases for terrorists to train and organize.

The main objective of the U.S. is fostering tension and unrest in the region through the Taleban in order to justify some sort of U.S. intervention.

Another point to take into consideration is the U.S. propaganda program, which is trying to portray Islam as a backward and regressive religion which ultimately leads to the misery of its subjects.

At the same time, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been insisting that cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad can be one of the best ways to restore peace in war-torn Afghanistan. In a meeting on Sunday with Pakistani Foreign Secretary Imanul Haque, President Mohammad Khatami underlined the need for cooperation and said that both sides should take prompt action to solve the problem in Afghanistan.