President George Bush and Tony Blair yesterday warned the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the starkest terms that preparations for the war against them were complete and attacks could be launched at any time.
In what amounted to a final warning to the Islamic fundamentalist regime, which is accused of protecting Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist network, Bush said: 'Full warning has been given. For those nations that stand with the terrorists, there will be a heavy price.'
He added: 'We're offering help and friendship to the Afghan people. It is their Taliban rulers, and the terrorists they harbour, who have much to fear.'
Bush's comments were echoed by Tony Blair, who was even more outspoken in suggesting that an outbreak of hostilities was imminent. He told journalists accompanying him as he returned from three days of whirlwind diplomacy in Russia, Pakistan and India: 'We are ready to go. Everything is in place.'
The warnings came as the Taliban made a desperate last-ditch bid to avoid attack, announcing that it was releasing the British journalist Yvonne Ridley and would negotiate the release of eight foreign aid workers accused of being Christian missionaries if America would halt its bellicose stance.
The offer was immediately rejected by a White House spokesman, who said that the time for negotiation had run out. He went on: 'The President has made clear from the beginning that the Taliban need to release the aid workers and that it is time for action, not negotiation.'
Responding to the Taliban's offer to release the eight aid workers, he said there could be no negotiation with the Taliban and the time for military action had arrived. Blair said: 'There are strong important reasons for taking this action. An action is going to be taken.'
Blair stressed his determination to see the removal of the Taliban regime from power and added that the priority was now to work towards replacing it.
He had seen new intelligence that convinced him of the inseparable link between bin Laden and the Taliban. He said: 'They are enormous, they are intimately connected and totally linked.'
Blair also renewed fears that further attacks by bin Laden's network were being planned, echoing comments by US intelligence and military spokesmen - including those yesterday of Nato Supreme Commander Joseph Ralston - that another attack was '100 per cent likely'.
Blair made clear, however, that any military action would have a tight focus and ruled out attacks on other states accused of supporting terrorism. The mood among Blair's staff indicated military strikes could take place this week, although there are expected to be more meetings and visits during the week.
The warnings from Washington and London came as the Taliban continue to reinforce their defences against the first wave of attacks, expected to be cruise missiles launched from US and British ships in the Gulf, and from high-flying B52 bombers.
In Kabul, fears that two high-flying aircraft seen above the city yesterday were part of that first wave led to an intense burst of anti-aircraft fire lasting 15 minutes.
As thousands continued to flee to border camps, it emerged that the Taliban have doubled their fortifications along 10 miles of front line to the north of the capital, Kabul, according to senior opposition military officers who say they are in regular touch with would-be defectors among the Taliban's field commanders.
The sources said yesterday that the Taliban have constructed a second line of defences two kilometres behind the existing front line to the north of the capital.
The alliance is endeavouring to present the new defensive lines as a vain attempt by the Taliban leadership to boost morale among its forces, but also concedes that the reinforcements could frustrate their plans to storm Kabul should the US launch air strikes. Intercepted radio traffic showed that the Taliban's forward troops still included fearsome fighters from Pakistan and the Arab world, they said.
'If the [Kabul] defences are manned by Arabs and Pakistanis, they will be an important obstacle to us, because they are ready to fight to the last, to the death,' said an opposition general.
'If they are Afghans, they won't be any obstacle. But there are still Arabs there. We can hear them on the radios.'
With the media in neighbouring Iran yesterday predicting imminent US strikes on the key Taliban cities of Kabul, Kandahar in the south, and Jalalabad in the east, and warnings from the Taleban that they would target neighboroughing states, there were also growing signs of Northern Alliance forces preparing for an offensive.
The opposition is constructing an airstrip 30 miles north of Kabul. Some apparently new helicopters have been spotted in the Northern Alliance Panjsheer Valley stronghold, north-east of Kabul, hundreds of men have been called up, and General Mohamed Fahim, the alliance commander, presided over a parade of over 30 Soviet T-72 and T-55 tanks in the far north on Friday. It was not clear if the hardware was from the existing armoury or whether it was newly acquired from the $40 million of equipment promised by Moscow.
'Before the events in New York, the Taliban were ready and very, very seriously preparing for a new round of internal war,' said a senior Northern Alliance officer. 'But when faced with the international challenge, they now feel very weak.'
Dr Abdullah Abdullah, the alliance's 'foreign minister", said the Taliban headquarters in Kandahar had been completely evacuated and that the Taliban's religious leader, Mullah Mohamed Omar, had also moved from Kandahar. 'They've moved everything to an unknown location.'