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Bin Laden may be eyeing move
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-10 09:16 Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden might be preparing
to move from Pakistan to Afghanistan, according to sources with access to the
latest U.S. intelligence.
U.S. intelligence found signs of a network of al Qaeda couriers and safe
houses on the Afghan side of the border, sources said. Such a network could be a
sign bin Laden might be planning to flee Pakistan, CNN reported.
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| Al-Jazeera aired a video in September 2003
that appeared to show bin Laden with his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
[AP/Al Jazeera] | Pentagon officials said they think bin Laden is hiding along the mountainous
Pakistan-Afghan border, but they said they do not know bin Laden's exact
location.
The officials said they think the fugitive terrorist leader is increasingly
facing pressure from Pakistan's close efforts with the United States as well as
the cooperation of some tribes that rule the largely ungoverned region along the
border.
The Arab television network Al-Jazeera aired video Monday showing some 2,000
men from a tribe in the Wana border region of Pakistan who, under pressure from
the Pakistan government, have joined the hunt for al Qaeda members.
"The Wana region is like a ship, and we're all on board," said Noor Mohammed,
whom Al-Jazeera identified as a tribal leader.
Efforts to catch bin Laden increased
The U.S. military recently said it was increasing efforts to find bin Laden,
who has eluded the United States for years.
Pakistani troops arrested 25 people during a raid on the Pakistan side of
border last month. It was not clear if any of the people detained were al Qaeda,
but the Pakistani troops found passports, weapons and documents, Pakistani
military officials said.
The U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno, said last month U.S.
and Pakistani forces are operating on each side of the border in hopes of
driving al Qaeda fighters toward the 11,000 U.S. and Afghan troops across the
frontier.
Pentagon officials insist that it's only a matter of time before bin Laden is
found.
The Taliban ruled much of Afghanistan from the mid-1990s until a coalition of
U.S. and allied forces drove the fundamentalist Muslim regime from power in
November 2001. The Taliban provided haven to al Qaeda before the September 11,
2001, attacks.
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