The U.S. government has accused bin Laden of masterminding last year's bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The United States and United Nations demanded that bin Laden be handed over to stand trial either in the United States or a third country on charges of terrorism. The Taliban released a statement in its own defense refusing to surrender bin Laden against his will because Afghan tradition and culture makes it impossible to treat a guest with such little respect. People set fire to U.S. flags and effigies of Clinton, and burned a U.N. office to the ground. Afghan leaders have only spurred on the people, going so far as to incite rage through radio broadcast of songs.
Music plays on Afghan radio very infrequently.
Ever since gaining power out of the ruins of civil war, the Taliban has implemented policies based on extreme Islamic ideas. Their aim, they say, is to set up the world's most pure Islamic state, banning frivolities like television, music and cinema. They have also forbidden girls to attend school and women to work, which has created unrest in the international community. Unfortunately, Afghanistan does not have the resources or economic stability to deal with the sanctions that recent actions have brought. Impoverished by 20 years of war and Soviet occupation, Afghans said that even limited sanctions will be backbreaking.