Conflicting reports on possible Bin Laden capture

[Guest teke184]

By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press Writer

 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani officials Wednesday denied an Iran Radio report that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) had been captured in Pakistan.

 

 

 

 

 

Murtaza Poya, deputy leader of the Islamic Awami Tahrik Party in Pakistan, who was quoted by Iran Radio, told The Associated Press in Islamabad that bin Laden was being held but that authorities were waiting to announce his capture.

 

 

"He is in the custody of those who were chasing him and the announcement to that effect will be made between March 17 and 18th when the war in Iraq (news - web sites) is expected to start," Poya said in a telephone interview.

 

 

He refused to identify the source of his information and said he was not told where bin Laden was apprehended or being held.

 

 

In Washington, the CIA (news - web sites) said there was no truth to the reports. "We have absolutely no information to substantiate that," said spokesman Bill Harlow.

 

 

Pakistani officials said Poya was wrong.

 

 

"It is not correct," Interior Ministry Secretary Iftikar Ahmed told AP.

 

 

"This is just not true," added Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, Pakistan's intelligence coordinator in the war on terror.

 

 

Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed also denied the report. He told a news conference earlier: "Osama is not in Pakistan; we have no information about Osama bin Laden and if someone has this information he should tell us."

 

 

At Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan (news - web sites), the headquarters of the U.S. military there, officials knew nothing of bin Laden's arrest.

 

 

"We have no information that Osama has been captured," U.S. military spokesman Army Master Sgt. Richard Breach said.

 

 

The Pakistani spy agency, in a rare briefing for journalists this week, said suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed admitted meeting bin Laden last December but didn't say where. A video was shown depicting the arrest of Mohammed, whose face was never shown and whose head was covered by a black hood.

 

 

Meanwhile, an intelligence source told AP that Mohammed was questioned at a "safe house" belonging to the Pakistani spy agency. They said his head was covered in a black hood and he spoke in English and Arabic. American interrogators were present, but Mohammed did not see them.

 

 

The United States and its allies have intensified searches along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan for bin Laden and other terrorists they fear may respond to war against Iraq with attacks, intelligence sources say.

 

 

The sweeps followed the March 1 arrest of Mohammed, al-Qaida's third most powerful man.

 

 

In the hours after his arrest, a belligerent Mohammed praised bin Laden and warned that "America will burn if it goes into Baghdad. Americans everywhere will not be safe," Pakistani intelligence officials told AP.

 

 

Since launching the stepped-up assault along the border, Pakistani sources said "we are making arrests everywhere." They did not elaborate.

 

 

 

 

 

A European intelligence source said Pakistani military and paramilitary forces have staked out the tribal corridor that runs between Pakistan and Afghanistan, sweeping through rugged pockets that could provide a haven for Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives.

 

While the entire border is suspect, Pakistani forces are concentrating in southwestern Baluchistan province between Quetta and the Iranian border. They're also focusing on the North West Frontier Province, near Balikot, 120 miles northwest of the federal capital of Islamabad, and farther northwest in the Chitral area, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.

 

Bin Laden is not the only focus of the hunt. They also are searching for other al-Qaida operatives, Taliban and loyalists of renegade Afghan rebel leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

 

A poster depicting 16 wanted men, including Hekmatyar, bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar has been circulated in the region, as well as leaflets reminding people of the US$25 million reward for their capture.

 

The posters are written in Persian and Pashtu, the predominant languages of the region.

 

In Afghanistan, U.S. operatives, who have been identified by Pakistani sources as CIA special forces, are working with allies in southern and northeastern Afghanistan.

 

In Afghanistan's southwestern Nimroz province, U.S. and Afghan forces carried out an operation near Rabat after picking up satellite images of men on horses. A firefight ensued and several people reportedly were killed or captured.

 

Hekmatyar and his men are the focus of the hunt in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar province, where U.S. special forces have been based for months, and directly across the border in Pakistan.

 

In Peshawar last week, raids were carried out in Afghan refugee camps, including Shamshatoo Camp, which belonged to Hekmatyar's group during Afghanistan's 1980s war against Soviet forces and continued to house his supporters until now.

 

Pakistani villagers living near the border with Afghanistan also reported stepped up activities, helicopters swooping in low and paramilitary troops in all-terrain vehicles roaring around.

 

This new equipment comes from the United States. Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps has only recently begun to employ US$73 million worth of equipment given to them by the United States to patrol the border with Afghanistan. The equipment included helicopters, 483 vehicles, including troop carriers and ambulances. It also included hundreds of radios and other communication equipment.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

I don't believe it. The source is way too questionable.