Bush cites progress against terrorism

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush cited progress on many fronts Monday in the war against terrorism. Among the U.S. offensives is a package of covert aid to groups inside Afghanistan that oppose the terrorist-harboring Taliban militia, U.S. officials said.

"We're going to bring these people to justice," Bush said during an early afternoon visit to the headquarters of the agency that oversees disaster aid.

Nearly three weeks after the terror attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Bush said it may take awhile to apprehend those responsible for the hijacking attacks.

But he said he was pleased with what has been accomplished. He cited hundreds of arrests here and overseas in the investigation, international cooperation and initial success in seizing assets of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida organization.

"The evildoers struck and when they did they aroused a mighty land," Bush said at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We will not be cowed by a few," he said.

Bush said that in the week since he announced a move to freeze assets of bin Laden and 26 other individuals and organizations, some $6 million has been blocked and 50 bank accounts frozen, 30 in this country and 20 overseas.

He also noted that some 29,000 American troops have been committed to the effort. "This is a different kind of war. It's hard to fight a guerrilla war with conventional forces, but our military is ready," Bush said.

As part of that effort, Bush approved assistance to groups within Afghanistan that oppose the ruling Taliban militia.

"The purpose of the mission is to eliminate those who harbor terrorists. ... We will work with a variety of people, all of whom have an interest in establishing an Afghanistan that is peaceful and does not practice terrorism," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

The effort is separate from a United Nations humanitarian program to help Afghans overcome hardships, and from a new U.S. plan to provide tens of millions of dollars to Afghan refugees who have fled to neighboring Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, said earlier Monday that he believes the Taliban's days are numbered.

"It appears that the United States will take action in Afghanistan, and we have conveyed this to the Taliban," Musharraf told the British Broadcasting Corp.

In other developments Monday:

--The administration made plans to announce later this week the reopening of Washington's Reagan National Airport, the only airport still closed after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it would reopen under vastly tightened security, including limits on flights and requiring armed air marshals on those flights.

--New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appealed to the world community to not give in to terrorism. "The United Nations must hold accountable any country that supports or condones terrorism or you will fail in your primary mission as peacekeepers," Giuliani told General Assembly representatives from more than 150 countries.

--Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said America's armed forces are ready for the war on terrorism. He spoke at a ceremony honoring Army Gen. Henry Shelton, retiring as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Shelton cited "recent evil and barbaric attacks."

In his remarks to federal disaster workers, Bush noted that their agency was mainly set up to deal with natural disasters.

"Now, all of a sudden, some evil people came and they declared war on America. And your agency, and the good working people -- true Americans -- had to rise to the occasion. And rise you did," he said.

But, he said, the battle was a "campaign that must be fought on many fronts, and I'm proud to report that we're making progress on many fronts."

Bush also used his speech to announce the arrest over the weekend of a man suspected in the 1986 attack by four gunmen on a plane in Pakistan. The plane was en route from Bombay to New York. In the end, 21 people including two Americans were killed and nearly 200 injured in the assault.

Bush said that while the individual arrested was not linked to the bin Laden organization, "He's an example of the wider war on terrorism and what we intend to do."

The White House also announced plans for Bush to travel to New York at midweek to visit schoolchildren, Fleischer said

"It's been very difficult on children, and the president is very concerned about that," Fleischer said.

FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh said he will travel separately from Bush to New York City on Wednesday. He plans to visit a FEMA field office and address several problems with the cleanup effort at the World Trade Center.

"This is going to take months -- it's going to take three to four months just to get to the ground level," Allbaugh told The Associated Press. "This is going to be better than a year to resolve this debris problem at the sites."

Earlier, Bush spoke by phone with President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Fleischer said.

As part of the repositioning of U.S. forces, the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk left its base near Tokyo on Monday. Navy spokesman Hidemi Nagao said the carrier was participating in the campaign against terrorists, but declined to elaborate and would not say where it was going.

The Kitty Hawk had steamed out of Yokosuka Sept. 21 on an undisclosed mission but returned Sunday.

White House chief of staff Andrew Card said on "Fox News Sunday" that the Taliban had to "turn not only Osama bin Laden over but all the operatives of the al-Qaida organization" that he runs,

Attorney General John Ashcroft, meanwhile, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that, "We believe there are others who may be in the country who would have plans" for more attacks.

"Frankly, as the United States responds, that threat may escalate," Ashcroft added.