Things that make ya go "hmmm". From The Pakistan Tribune: http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=18279 Osama arrested near Pak-Afghan border area? Friday March 07, 2003 (0015 PST) QUETTA, March 07 (Online): The American and local agencies Thursday arrested 9 Al-Qaeda suspects who may include Osama Bin Laden or his son near Shamshi airport near the Pak- Afghan border areas, sources said. The sources added that the agencies were quite active in search operations for the last two days. They maintained that at least one "very important" Al-Qaeda man (who may be Osama Bin Laden or his son) was also among the detainees. The sources suggested that the operation near Chaghi could well be the follow up of reports that arrested Al-Qaeda suspect Sheikh Khalid Mohammed had told investigators about the whereabouts of Osama. The detained suspect had reportedly told the investigators that Osama had met him in mountainous regions of frontier areas near Balochistan. Sheikh Khalid along with two other suspects was arrested from Rawalpindi by the agencies. He was later handed over to the United States. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed when contacted showed ignorance about the incident. "I don't have any information about this operation. I can't say anything", he told Online. Presidential spokesman Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi also said that he had no knowledge about the incident. "No, nothing. I don't know", he told Online. The US meanwhile has also put the Jamaat-e-Islami in the watch list suspecting alleged links with Al-Qaeda. The religious parties in Pakistan, already furious over possibility of US attack on Iraq, have shown strong reaction to the arrest of Sheikh Khalid Mohammed and others. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal led by Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani vows to fight the "aggressor" US until the end. End.
My boyfriend kept hearing something about that on Rush today. He swears Rush said Usama was captured. The major news websites only say that the search is narrowing down.
We just don't know for sure yet. It makes sense that if we did have him, we wouldn't hear about it for a while. Lets hope.
Report of capture of bin Laden's sons questioned 03/07/2003 Associated Press ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A top provincial official said Friday that seven al-Qaeda members were killed in an operation in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border and that two sons of Osama bin Laden may been wounded in the raid. U.S. officials disputed his claim that the bin Laden sons were captured. Sanaullah Zehri, who as home minister of Baluchistan province is the top security official, said the raid was carried out by "allied forces" including U.S. troops in an area of Afghanistan where the borders of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan converge. Zehri announced the capture of two of bin Laden's sons on the privately owned Geo television and to The Associated Press in an interview. His claim was not confirmed by other Pakistani officials and was disputed by U.S. counterterrorism officials. Saad, believed to be 23 years old and bin Laden's eldest son, is also on the American most-wanted list and has been said to be a rising star in the terror network. The al-Qaeda leader is believed to have up to 23 sons by several wives. "They were arrested from Rabat area in Afghanistan," Zehri said from his home in Quetta, the Baluchistan provincial capital. The brothers were captured in the Rabat region in the extreme southwest of Afghanistan's Nimroz province where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet. In Washington, U.S. counterterrorism officials strongly disputed the claim. They said they had no information that would suggest any of the sons had been detained. A U.S. official told an AP Radio reporter at the White House: "We, in fact, think it's wrong."
ABC News is reporting the following: The CIA and Pakistani Army are electronically tracking the large caravan of people on foot and horseback through the rugged mountain area of Pakistan between the borders with Iran and Afghanistan, Pakistani officials told ABCNEWS. Osama bin Laden may be traveling with the caravan and may be on foot. Officials have cast a net around the caravan â?? using electronic U.S. surveillance and planes with cameras that can see through darkness to monitor its movement along a trail. U.S. officials say they are not 100 percent sure that bin Laden is in the caravan, but they have a high degree of probability that he is and have closed off the area to all other traffic. The area is so rugged that officials may not be able to move in with military vehicles, but instead could launch an operation with CIA paramilitary forces attacking the caravan from helicopters if it is determined that bin Laden is there. President Bush has also authorized the launch of a missile attack if bin Laden is positively identified.
