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Opposition ready to 'make all the sacrifices'

Afghanistan President Burhanuddin Rabbani

(CNN) -- The Taliban's opponents will do everything necessary to oust the Taliban and end the Afghan war, Afghanistan's internationally recognized president said Friday.

Speaking on CNN's "Larry King Live," Burhanuddin Rabbani said no sacrifice would be too great to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban.

"Once we took the path of resistance and the cause of our homeland, we took on all the risks involved and we are prepared to make all the sacrifices," Rabbani through an interpreter.

Rabbani, who currently holds his nation's seat in the United Nations, said it was "up to the people of Afghanistan" to determine whether he would lead a post-Taliban state.

Rabbani said he plans to travel soon to the front lines of the Northern Alliance, which is leading the military fight within Afghanistan against the Taliban.

Northern Alliance foreign ministry sources said Friday that the group's leaders are frustrated by the U.S.-led military campaign. The bombing has been ineffective in destroying Taliban defenses, despite information the alliance has provided the coalition, leaders say.

Meanwhile, Pentagon officials hinted that ground troops soon may play a larger role in the military campaign in Afghanistan.

"We will utilize all of our forces and all of the types of warfare that we have to bring to bear, with the exception of weapons of mass destruction," Navy Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem said. (Full story)

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Latest developments

• The White House stepped up the political, intelligence and legal war against terrorism on Friday, with President Bush signing a broad-based antiterrorism bill. He also called on the Senate to ratify two treaties aimed at expediting the extradition of suspected terrorists.

The legislation signed Friday, called the U.S.A. Patriot Act, allows authorities to use more overseas intelligence information, allows for longer detentions of suspects who are not U.S. citizens and expands wiretapping authority. (Full story)

• The Pentagon admitted Friday that fighter jets and B-52 bombers inadvertently dropped 2,000-pound bombs on warehouses used by the Red Cross in the Afghan capital of Kabul. A 500-pound cluster bomb also went astray, hitting a civilian area near the warehouses. A Red Cross spokesman in Islamabad said no one was hurt.

• Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have executed opposition leader Abdul Haq, who was arrested during a peace mission on behalf of the country's exiled king, Taliban and independent sources reported Friday. According to an independent, non-Taliban source in Pakistan, Haq was accused of spying for the United States and executed after a brief trial Friday afternoon. (Full story)

A U.S. official told CNN that Haq used his cell phone to call a friend in Pakistan, who called a friend in Washington asking for help. The only weapon handy was an unmanned Predator drone armed with Hellfire missiles, which were fired at the Taliban forces, but that was not enough to prevent the Taliban forces from capturing Haq.

• U.S. bombs and missiles struck targets around Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif, Kandahar and Herat on Friday, pounding caves where Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are thought to be hiding, storage facilities, military barracks and other targets, the Pentagon said.

• Britain announced Friday it will commit more ships, aircraft and troops to the anti-terror campaign being waged against Afghanistan. The British task force includes 200 Royal Marine commandos, based aboard the assault ship HMS Fearless, who will be "immediately available" for operations, Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram announced. (Full story)