In the wake of the US missile strikes on Afghanistan in 1998, Taliban leader Mullah Omar had sought then US President Bill Clinton's resignation to 'rebuild' America's 'popularity' in the Arab world.
Two days after Clinton ordered missile strikes on suspected Al Qaeda camps, a State Department official had a telephonic conversation with Omar, during which the Taliban leader said "to rebuild US popularity in Islamic world, US Congress should force President Clinton to resign."
This is revealed in documents released yesterday by the US National Security Archive in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
The US diplomat who had the conversation with Omar was Michael E Malinowski, who was then head of the State Department's Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh desk.
According to the record, in the August 22, 1998 telephone conversation with Malinowski, Omar "parroted" many hard-line
Clinton was then the focus of an investigation in a scandal involving White House intern Monica Lewinsky and was on the verge of facing impeachment in the House of Representatives.
Some Republican leaders had openly suggested Clinton ordered the strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan to divert attention from his troubles, an allegation the September 11 Commission recently declared an unfounded 'slur'.
A State Department Spokesman, Kurtis A Cooper, said the conversation with Malinowski is the only one that occurred between Omar and the US Government.
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