More than 800 senior Taliban clerics are gathering in Afghanistan to decide whether to hand over Osama bin Laden to the US, averting the threat of an attack on the country.
The meeting, or "Shura", of the Muslim religious elders in Kabul is expected to reach a decision today or tomorrow that will determine the immediate fate of the terrorist.
The decision is due as international aid agencies warned of widespread food shortages and massive population displacement of up to 1.5 million people in Afghanistan if the US attacked.
There were reports yesterday of pre-famine conditions in Afghanistan, with vital food supplies failing to get into the country as tensions increase.
A world food programme spokesman told The Irish Times that, in keeping with security practice, there was only enough food for the thousands of needy to last for two to three weeks.
The problem facing them, he said, is getting a fresh food supply through with the shortage of commercial trucks.
There is increasing speculation that the Taliban would consider handing over bin Laden to the US but only under strict conditions.
Last night, Afghanistan's Minister for Information, Mr Qudratullah Jamal was quoted as saying that proof of bin Laden's involvement in the attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre was needed before the Saudi-born exile could be handed over, and then only for trial in a third country.
However, as US pressure continued on the Taliban for a quick decision, senior Afghan clerics said on Taliban's Voice of Shariat Radio yesterday that the Taliban would launch a Jihad or Holy War against the US if it attacks.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan President, Mr Pervez Musharraf, will address the nation tonight in a radio broadcast as anxiety continues to grow of a US attack on its neighbour.
A delegation of Pakistan officials returned from the Afghan capital last night after two days of talks with the country's Taliban leadership following last week's attacks.
It is understood the officials issued a strong ultimatum to the Taliban to hand over bin Laden or face the consequences.
A Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr Riaz Khan, confirmed the group had returned and there were no plans to go back.
The delegation held three hours of talks on Monday with the Taliban leader, Mr Mullah Omar in Kandahar, on an eleventh-hour mission to prevent a major crisis.
The Taliban spokesman, Mr Abdul Hai Mutamaen, yesterday described the talks as "positive" but gave no hint on what progress if any had been made.
"We are sixty per cent hopeful that conditions will be returned to normal," he said.
There were unconfirmed reports that the Taliban told Pakistani officials that among the conditions for handing over bin Laden were the lifting of UN sanctions, international recognition and economic assistance.
The US says bin Laden, who lives as a "guest" of the Taliban, is the prime suspect in the attacks. President Bush said America wanted him "dead or alive".