Some Afghans still symapathetic to Omar

"He's of our blood. He's a Muslim. He's an Afghan," says 13-year-old Ahmadalluh.

Sitting in a teahouse on a busy Kandahar street, the schoolboy is discussing the fate of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the elusive cleric and leader of the vanquished Taliban, now the target of a massive hunt by U.S. and anti-Taliban forces loyal to Afghanistan's new, interim government.

Ahmadullah seems to speak for the several dozen men drinking green tea in the onetime royal capital and the country's second city after Kabul.

"I have learned from my elders how the British and the Russians came to Afghanistan. Now it's the Americans. It's the third time," Ahmadullah said.

Hundreds of U.S. Marines at Kandahar airport and, together with special forces, are trying to track down the one-eyed cleric, like Ahmadullah a Pashtun from Kandahar, who implemented a radical rule for six years until toppled by U.S. bombing and forces of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.

"Even if we disagree with Mullah Omar and what the Taliban did during their rule, we cannot hand him over," said Mir Hamza, who cares for war disabled.

"We owe him respect for stepping down, for quitting and thereby preventing much greater loss of life in our city."

Omar surrendered and pulled his men out of the southern city that was his stronghold on December 7.

And what of the world's most wanted man with a $25 million reward on his head? Would they hand over Osama bin Laden?

"He was our guest, and whatever he might have done, we cannot hand him over to foreigners," says Mir Hamza.

What about the reward?

"How would simple people like us ever claim it? And whoever did so, he would disgrace his name and reputation for betraying a fellow-Muslim and a guest in his own house," Mir Hamza said.

The Saudi-born militant, who is the chief suspect in the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington that killed about 3,000 people, has vanished. Despite reported sightings in different parts of the country, his whereabouts are unknown.

But the Americans hunting Omar and bin Laden were not unwelcome in Kandahar.

"Anyone who brings peace to Afghanistan and who helps rebuild our country is always welcome," said Syed Mohammed, an unemployed farmer.

One student, Said Ahmed, expressed gratitude to the United States for forcing the Taliban out of power for it means he can finish his studies. He says high prices in the shops are also starting to come down.

But it all depended on whether the new breed of foreigner could fulfil at least some of the high expectations of a people suddenly freed from the straitjacket of a puritanical society without dance or music, with no economic policies or resources.

Unemployed labourer Mohammed, 50, just wanted a job. "We all hope these Americans will bring us a better life," he said.