U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said yesterday that Washington condemns in the strongest terms reported comments by a Taliban official who said the group would restore the use of amputations and executions as punishment in Afghanistan.<br />''<br />''Briefing reporters by phone, Price responded to Taliban leader Mullah Nooruddin Turabi's comments to the Associated Press, saying the punishments would constitute clear gross abuses of human rights. He said U S stands firm with the international community to hold perpetrators of these, of any such abuses, accountable. Price said that Washington is watching very closely as the Taliban conducts itself.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #000000;">Washington has said any potential recognition of the new Taliban-led government in Kabul, which replaced the Western-backed government that collapsed last month, would depend on respect for human rights.</span><br />