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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Machaon who wrote (2768)	4/16/2002 8:35:30 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

Al-Qa'eda offers $100,000 bounty on westerners (Filed: 17/04/2002) Philip Smucker, who reported on the fighting against bin Laden's elite last month, finds them still in business A NEW set of paper fliers are doing the rounds in eastern Afghanistan. Distributed among the Pathan population of Khost province, they promise that $100,000 (£70,000) will be paid for the capture of any foreigner, including soldiers, aid workers and journalists. The remnants of Osama bin Laden's elite Arab al-Qa'eda fighters in Afghanistan are in disarray after months on the run. But the fliers, written in Pashto language and signed "Holy Warriors of Islam", are a reminder that they are as anxious as ever to get their hands on a Westerner. During the war last year, they attached notes to Afghan corpses sent back across the front lines saying: "You are our Muslim brothers and it pains us to kill you, so send us the infidels!" Afghan commanders in Khost say that al-Qa'eda fighters, who move at will across the porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, have been scouting out a highly secretive American-built camp set in the former Royal gardens of the former Afghan king Zahir Shah, a few miles north of the town. There, some 600 Afghans mingle with about 200 Americans and an unknown number of British troops. Scores of new tents have sprung up amid orchards of olive, pomegranate and apple trees. Afghan commanders, who receive salaries of $2,000 (£1,400) a month from the United States, say their new installation is meant as a "model anti-terror camp" from which they plan, along with their American allies, to launch major operations this spring and summer. Al-Qa'eda forces are in a state of disarray, but that may well be to their advantage as they make less of a target. Since the battle for Tora Bora, al-Qa'eda has been prowling eastern and southern Afghanistan in small guerrilla units. At least one small contingent of al-Qa'eda fighters has taken up residence near the Khost camp at Pasho Ghar, a rocky black mountain with huge cliffs. At the nearby village of Toray Auba, Afghan residents deny the presence of Arabs in the village but say the guerrillas are roaming the nearby mountains. "Two weeks ago, the main gate of our house was knocked on at midnight, and when I opened the door I saw armed men standing in front of the door and near the wall of our house, who asked me for food," said Kazim jan Tabbasum, 28, a resident, recently. "They could only say 'doodai' in Pashto, which means food. They were also reciting a verse from the Koran over and over. I gave them some food, because I didn't want trouble. Early the next morning, when I followed their footprints, I noticed them coming from Pasho Ghar." Seasoned Afghan commanders say that they expect al-Qaeda diehards to spring into action as soon as they see the "whites faces of the infidels". However, the history of the conflict in the last six months suggests that many would rather retreat than face the full might of a modern army. Related reports Marines go into action at 10,000ft