Capturing or killing Osama my top priority: Obama

Washington, November 17: Stamping out al-Qaeda ‘once and for all’ and capturing or killing its elusive leader Osama bin Laden would be a ‘top priority’ for the next US government as it planned to redeploy its troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, President-elect Barack Obama has said.
"I think it is a top priority for us to stamp out al-Qaeda once and for all. And I think capturing or killing bin Laden is a critical aspect of stamping out al-Qaeda," Obama said in his maiden interview since his historic win in the November 4 US presidential election.

"He is not just a symbol, he's also the operational leader of an organisation that is planning attacks against US targets," Obama told CBS News.

Asked when he would start redeployment of US troops out of Iraq, Obama, who is scheduled to be sworn-in as the 44th US President, the first black-American, said it would happen soon.

"Well, I've said during the campaign, and I've stuck to this commitment, that as soon as I take office, I will call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, my national security apparatus, and we will start executing a plan that draws down our troops."

Since US troops were having ‘problems’ in Afghanistan, he said the government had to step up its efforts to contain the threat it faced from the al-Qaeda in the war-ravaged nation.

"Particularly in light of the problems that we're having in Afghanistan, which has continued to worsen. We've got to shore up those efforts," he said.

Asked whether he would follow through his election promise to shut down the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison facility in Cuba, he said, "Yes. I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that."

Obama also said he would change the interrogation methods that are currently used by US troops. "I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture. And I'm gonna make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world."

In the wide-ranging interview to 'CBS 60 Minutes', the 47-year-old leader said creating a focused programme to help troubled homeowners and providing assistance to auto industry to prevent its collapse were some of the tasks before him.

He warned that the challenges confronted by the country are ‘enormous’.

"I think that part of this next two months is to really get a clear set of priorities, understanding we're not going be able to do everything at once, making sure the team is in place, and moving forward in a very deliberate way and sending a clear signal to the American people that we're going to be thinking about them and what they're going through," he said.

Turning to the issue of homeowners, he said, "we have not focused on foreclosures and what's happening to homeowners as much as I would like... We've got to... set up a negotiation between banks and borrowers so that people can stay in their homes."

"One thing I'm determined is that if we don't have a clear focused programme for homeowners by the time I take office, we will after I take office," Obama said.

He also said it would be a ‘disaster’ if the auto industry completely collapses. "So it's my belief that we need to provide assistance to the auto industry. But I think that it can't be a blank check...

"My hope is that over the course of the next week, between the White House and Congress, the discussions are shaped around providing assistance but making sure that that assistance is conditioned on labour, management, suppliers, lenders, all of the stakeholders coming together with a plan."