As with almost every other country in the world, it refused to recognize the new radical Islamist government established by the Taliban and continued supporting the Northern Alliance as the country's legitimate government. The U.S. government did have informal contacts with the Taliban, but relations worsened after Osama bin Laden's fatawā declaring war on the United States and the 1998 United States embassy bombings. After Operation Infinite Reach, Mullah Mohammed Omar made a telephone call to the U.S. State Department demanding that President Bill Clinton resign. The United States refused to provide aid or recognition to the Taliban government unless it expelled bin Laden, which it refused to do under the "pashtunwali" code demanding that guests be offered sanctuary.