The Taliban threatened yesterday to launch attacks during the swearing in of Afghan President Hamid Karzai while the US military said every precaution was being taken to protect a ceremony to be attended by top US officials. The inauguration will take place on Tuesday morning at Karzai?s fortress-like presidential palace in Kabul, and will be witnessed by US Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as well as other foreign dignitaries.

Cheney will be the most senior US official to visit Afghanistan since US-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001 for failing to give up al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Mullah Dadullah, the most senior Taliban military commander and a member of the movement?s 10-man leadership council, warned people they should stay away from government and military installations throughout Afghanistan during the inauguration. ?We do not want to harm innocent people,? he said, adding that Taliban guerrillas had been given orders: ?If you get a chance, disrupt the ceremony.?

US military spokesman Major Mark McCann said quick reaction ground and air units from US-led forces and NATO-led peacekeepers were part of a comprehensive plan to counter potential militant action. ?Every possible contingency has been planned for,? he said. McCann told a news briefing all major routes and venues in Kabul would be well protected and foreign troop units were standing by to carry out explosives disposal and to provide medical and command and control assistance. VIPs attending have been asked to supply their blood groups as a precaution.

David BRUNNSTROM