Prisoner blows self up after escape attempt

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A wounded al-Qaida fighter blew himself up during an escape attempt Tuesday after leaping from the second story of a hospital where he and six armed comrades have been holed up for a month.

The escape attempt underscored the difficulty of capturing hard-core members of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. It came as Afghan officials considered a reported surrender offer from several top Taliban figures, including their former defense and justice ministers.

There were conflicting reports on the status of the negotiations. Commander Sadozai, a high-ranking security official in Kandahar, said Gov. Gul Agha and others were meeting late Tuesday to decide how to handle former Taliban officials if they give themselves up.

By other accounts, officials of the interim government already have granted ex-Taliban ministers a general amnesty, allowing them to go free unless they are accused of a specific crime. In Kabul, Intelligence Ministry officials and U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said Tuesday night they could not confirm anyone had surrendered.

At the Pentagon, Gen. Richard Myers said U.S. officials were checking into the reported surrender offer.

The U.S. military targeted pockets of Taliban and al-Qaida resistance Tuesday as commanders shifted their focus from an all-out search for bin Laden to punishing air and ground attacks against the remnants of those who supported him.

Myers said U.S. forces operating in the Khost region of eastern Afghanistan had captured two senior al-Qaida figures. The two, whom Myers did not identify, were taken to the Marine base at Kandahar airport for interrogation, along with cell phones and laptops found with them. They were captured along with 12 other al-Qaida fighters, who were handed over to the Afghan government.