Taliban Promises Bin Laden Curbs

Kill one person and you'll go to jail; kill a hundred and you'll get a deal. That old adage of India's gangsters may apply equally to international terrorists. Afghanistan's Taliban rulers announced Friday that Osama bin Laden has been gagged and his activities restricted, but they continue to reject Washington's calls to surrender him for trial over the bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa. The announcement follows a meeting with British officials earlier this week, at which the Taliban were asked to "get control of" the alleged super-terrorist -- an approach the Afghanis hailed as "more reasonable" than Washington's extradition demands.

Britain's request reflects a more European approach to dealing with terrorism. "France, for example, places a much higher premium on intelligence and threat avoidance," says TIME correspondent William Dowell. "Sometimes they prefer to press the terrorists' host country to police their activities rather than get them extradited, which can spur further terrorist attacks." Washington, however, remains determined to see Bin Laden in an orange jumpsuit.