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Taliban agree to surrender Kandahar on Friday

Karzai, left, and Omar, who is rarely photographed.

(CNN) -- Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar appeared ready to surrender the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar Thursday, as word came that the airport east of the city had fallen to anti-Taliban forces.

The surrender agreement was struck Thursday, after talks between Taliban officials and interim Afghan government leader Hamid Karzai.

The former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said Omar will begin the surrender on Friday by turning over the city to one of his commanders, who will then direct the handing over of weapons and ammunition to tribal elders. Zaeef said Omar will not surrender directly to Karzai.

Zaeef told CNN that the Taliban leadership, including Omar, would be guaranteed safety and allowed to go home under the agreement. In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reiterated Thursday that the United States would oppose any agreement that gives amnesty to Omar.

Karzai didn't specifically address Omar's status, but told CNN, "Mullah Omar must distance himself from terrorism, recognize that Taliban has brutalized Afghanistan. That is our demand."

Karzai said amnesty would be offered to the "regular Taliban," but he said that approximately 650 al Qaeda fighters -- which he referred to as Arabs -- in the Kandahar area are criminals who must be brought to justice. (Full story)

A representative of a local tribal commander in Kandahar said Taliban forces had handed over control of the airport, located about 10 miles southeast of the city. In eastern Afghanistan, meanwhile, intense fighting continued in the mountainous Tora Bora region, where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be holed up. (Full story)

Intense small arms fire was heard Thursday night outside the U.S. Marine base south of Kandahar. A Marine spokesman said the firing was in response to a credible threat of a possible enemy attempt to probe the camp's outer defenses.

QUICKVOTE Should the pilot whose hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon get his own grave at Arlington? Yes No View Results     AUDIO Afghan leader Hamid Karzai discusses the handover of Kandahar and his demands of Mullah Mohammed Omar. 518K/47 sec. WAV sound Karzai calls on non-Afghan Taliban to leave Afghanistan immediately. 428K/39 sec. WAV sound    CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

Latest developments

• The Pentagon said Thursday two Marines received "non-critical" injuries when a UH-1 "Huey" helicopter experienced a hard landing and caught fire about 12:20 a.m. local time (2:50 p.m. ET) at the Marine base southwest of Kandahar.

• The United Nations Security Council unanimously endorsed the plan approved in Germany this week for a post-Taliban government in Afghanistan. But the council put off a vote authorizing a multinational peacekeeping force to provide security in and around the Afghan capital, Kabul.

• U.S. officials investigated the deaths of three Army Special Forces soldiers and six members of opposition forces. They were killed Wednesday when an errant U.S. bomb exploded near them, north of Kandahar. The explosion also wounded 20 U.S. soldiers and 18 opposition fighters. The bodies of two of the U.S. soldiers killed were flown to Germany on Thursday, where they will be turned over to a military mortuary team. (Full story)

• A U.S. airman Thursday became the first member of the Air Force to receive a Purple Heart for injuries received in Operation Enduring Freedom. The Special Operations Command airman -- identified only as "Staff Sgt. Michael" for security reasons -- suffered a perforated eardrum during a bombing incident involving a Taliban uprising at a fortress in Afghanistan.

• Attorney General John Ashcroft lashed out Thursday at critics of the administration's response to terrorism, saying questions about whether its actions undermine the Constitution only serve to help terrorists. Ashcroft said the administration's new initiatives --including the use of military tribunals to try non-U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism -- had been "carefully drawn" to balance constitutional rights against the threat of terrorism. (Full story)

• Ethnic Uzbek warlord Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum has announced he will boycott Afghanistan's recently negotiated interim government because he said it was not fully representative. (Full story)

• With the White House closed to tours for security reasons, Americans will still be able to see the elaborate holiday decorations there. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer announced Thursday the 360-degree online tour of the "Home for the Holidays" presentation at the White House. (Full story)

• U.S. officials in Washington said Wednesday they have received an unconfirmed intelligence report suggesting one of bin Laden's older sons may have been killed in a recent airstrike. Experts say bin Laden has at least 23 children, at least 14 of whom are sons.

• The sister of the Navy reservist who piloted the plane terrorists crashed into the Pentagon September 11 angrily demanded Wednesday that her brother get his own grave in Arlington National Cemetery because he was a victim of "what his own president is calling an act of war in a combat zone." The Army, which oversees the cemetery, had offered to allow him to be buried with his father, and share his tombstone. (Full story)

• Scientists at Fort Detrick, a germ warfare research lab in Maryland, Wednesday opened the envelope containing an anthrax-contaminated letter addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy and have begun the painstaking process of removing the anthrax inside, the FBI said. Experts have spent the past three weeks deciding what would be the best way to open the letter. (Full story)

• U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told NATO ministers in Belgium Thursday that an international peacekeeping force will be sent into Afghanistan, although "the mix and the leadership" has yet to be determined. (Full story)

• President Bush called on countries around the world to join the United States in paying tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks on the three-month observance, December 11, by playing their respective country's national anthems at 8:46 a.m. ET, the exact time the first hijacked plane hit the World Trade Center.