Bid to save anti-Taliban leader fails

American helicopters made a dramatic attempt to rescue an Afghan tribal leader after his covert mission to encourage Taliban defections ended in a bloody shootout, it was reported here today.

Hamid Karzai, a member of the Afghan royal family and one of the key people involved in trying to restore ex-king Zahir Shah, was discovered with a group of bodyguards and supporters in the mountains north of Kandahar. His hideout, in the town of Deharwad, was surrounded but his group kept Taliban forces back with machine-gun fire. Then, Taliban sources in Islamabad claimed, four American helicopter gunships tried unsuccessfully to evacuate the group.

An unconfirmed report from inside Afghanistan said Karzai had been arrested. The Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said he had been told Karzai had fled into the mountains with Taliban forces in pursuit.

At least four of Karzai's supporters were reported killed in the gun battle, with a number of Taliban losses.

Even if Karzai manages to escape, this latest development is a severe blow to American efforts to undermine the Taliban from within.

Last week the legendary Mujahideen commander Abdul Haq was caught and executed near Jalalabad while trying to persuade moderate Taliban factions to turn on the hardline leadership of Mullah Mohammed Omar. Commander Haq was believed to have been working with American help, and there were reliable reports that CIA helicopters mounted an unsuccessful rescue attempt.

Karzai, 42, is leader of the 500,000-strong Popolzai tribe, a powerful and influential group based in the Kandahar region. He was deputy foreign minister in the government toppled by the Taliban and he succeeded as tribal chief after the assasination of his father last year. His family blamed the Taliban for the murder.

If the Taliban capture him he is certain to be executed. Mullah Omar has ordered his forces to seek out opposition elements and in recent weeks at least five commanders whose loyalty was doubted have been killed.