KABUL, Afghanistan -- The United Nations ignored last-minute pleas from Afghanistan's Taliban army and imposed sanctions Sunday to demand the arrest of suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.
The United Nations is demanding bin Laden be handed over to the United States or a third country to stand trial on charges he masterminded last year's twin bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa.The sanctions took effect at midnight Sunday EST. The U.N. Security Council did not consider a postponement, which was sought by Kabul.
In the beleaguered capital, where early morning temperatures Sunday barely climbed to freezing, residents complained bitterly about the United Nations and United States.
"The Afghan people are dying. . . . It is an unfair decision for the Afghan people," said high school teacher Mohammed Ibrahim, who has lived in a sunbaked mud home since interfactional fighting destroyed his home in west Kabul several years ago.
"For breakfast this morning I had only one piece of bread that I shared with my two small sons," he said early Sunday morning outside his home. "This is our life in Afghanistan."
The U.N. sanctions order all states to freeze the Taliban's overseas assets and ban flights owned, leased or operated by the Taliban from taking off or landing. An exemption to the flight ban is allowed for humanitarian reasons or to allow the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
In a statement Saturday, the Taliban Foreign Ministry said "once again we are requesting the United Nations either to change the decision or postpone its implementation in a bid to give time for the solution of this problem.
"The Taliban are ready for talks with the United States, but there is no positive response from Washington," the ministry said.
Washington has repeatedly rejected the ruling Taliban's offers for talks or alternatives to surrendering bin Laden.
The Taliban have refused to hand over bin Laden, saying they have no extradition treaty with the United States and that Afghan culture and tradition make it impossible to turn a guest over to his enemies.
The Taliban called the sanctions "unreasonable" and said "the United Nations has been used as a tool by the United States to victimize Afghanistan." They urged other Muslim nations to ignore the sanctions.