Bin Laden, Omar Alive?
Afghans Feel U.S. Enemies Escaped; More Brits Depart With Mystery Illness
From Wire Reports
abcnews.go.com
May 16 — Local Afghan leaders believe Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar remain at large, and British troops searching for bin Laden's and Omar's forces continue to leave Afghanistan for treatment of a mystery illness.
A provincial governor and a warlord from a part of eastern Afghanistan where al Qaeda leader bin Laden and Taliban leader Omar were once believed to be hiding said today they thought the pair may still be alive.
Governor Taj Mohammad Wardak of Paktia province — scene of fierce U.S.-led fighting in March and bordering the mountainous Tora Bora area, which was heavily bombed by U.S. planes — said he believed the al Qaeda leader and reclusive Taliban chief were in Pakistan.
Wardak said as the noose tightened on the Taliban late last year, Omar fled to tribal areas of Pakistan's Baluchistan province while bin Laden made his way to eastern Afghanistan before escaping into Pakistan's Waziristan tribal area.
"As I know it, bin Laden is in Waziristan and Mullah Omar is probably in the Quetta area [of Baluchistan]," Wardak told Reuters in an interview in Paktia's capital, Gardez.
Pakistan's government says it is confident the pair are not hiding in its territory. It says it has not only sealed its borders but also engaged local tribal leaders to help ensure the two find no sanctuary in Pakistan.
Second Believer
Warlord Padshah Khan Zadran, who is involved in a bloody feud with Wardak over who controls Paktia province, said he did not know exactly where bin Laden, chief suspect in the Sept. 11's suicide plane attacks on the United States, and Omar were.
"But according to my knowledge they may be alive," he told Reuters in a separate interview at his isolated headquarters near Gardez.
He also believed the pair were probably in Pakistani tribal areas but was not as specific as Wardak.
Both men said they also believed there were few al Qaeda followers left in Paktia province but there could be plans for them to regroup in Pakistan and launch new attacks.
"They [al Qaeda in Pakistan] could have some secret contacts with people in Afghanistan and they are probably thinking about new tactics to attack us," Wardak said.
On Wednesday, General Tommy Franks, commander of the U.S. Central Command and in charge of the Afghan campaign, said on a visit to Kabul that Washington was pleased with Pakistan's cooperation but recognizes a lot of work needs to be done in Pakistan's lawless border area.
Some U.S. personnel are working with Pakistani troops there but soldiers in the field in Afghanistan say it is frustrating not to be able to send a larger conventional force across the border.
Franks dismissed those grumblings and said he was pleased with the cooperation the U.S.-led coalition had received from Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf.
"Do we have work that we're going to want to do on that border area for the foreseeable future? Yes we do, we have work to do in the eastern part of Afghanistan and in western Pakistan, he said."
Mystery Illness
Meanwhile, British forces racing to find the cause of a mystery fever that has struck 18 soldiers at an Afghan air base evacuated another six men to the United Kingdom for emergency treatment today, a British military spokesman said.
No new cases have been reported.
"We still cannot categorically identify the source or nature of the infection," Lt. Col. Ben Curry told reporters at Bagram air base, about 30 miles north of Kabul.
Intestinal Illness
However, he said the contagious disease resembled enteric — or intestinal — febrile illness, which he said can show meningitis-like symptoms.
British soldiers first started reporting symptoms four days ago, including fever, diarrhea and vomiting.
Two of the 18, considered seriously ill, have already been flown out of the country — one to Britain and another to a U.S. military hospital in Germany. Curry said the two were "stabilizing."
He said six more were evacuated by air today, but were not seriously sick. Another six remain under "barrier nursing supervision" at the 34 Field Hospital at Bagram. That means they are treated by "medical staff wearing masks, wearing gloves, wearing aprons, all disposable, and scrupulous hygiene," Curry said.
Quarantine
While four of the 18 patients were discharged from medical care, they are still among 333 people under quarantine at the hospital to prevent the disease from spreading, Curry said.
All those under quarantine were eating sterilized military ration packs as "a force protection measure," Curry said. Previously the 1,700 British troops deployed at Bagram had been eating a mixture of locally purchased food as well as military rations.
Soldiers from countries ranging from Australia to Poland are at Bagram, including about 2,700 U.S. troops. None of the U.S. soldiers was believed to have fallen ill with the disease, said U.S. military spokesman Maj. Bryan Hilferty.
"We have one American patient last night who has somewhat similar symptoms, but we don't think it's the same thing," Hilferty said. "But of course we are watching everyone very carefully."
Curry said the commanding officer of 34 Field Regiment, who was himself under quarantine, was leading the investigation at Bagram to track down the disease's cause, while doctors in Britain were examining one patient who had already arrived there.
Taking Precautions
None of the 18 soldiers with the fever had been out on field operations immediately prior to getting sick.
The area around the field hospital has been isolated and military police were deployed to keep out trespassers. British fighting forces live in green tents next to the hospital.
The hospital has treated almost exclusively British troops, though one Afghan was treated two weeks ago, officials said.
Earlier this month, three British marines were evacuated to Bagram during an operation in mountainous eastern Afghanistan. Two were diagnosed with altitude sickness and one had dysentery.
British troops at Bagram take a range of precautions to avoid illness, including using anti-malaria drugs, dipping their uniforms in insecticides and drinking bottled water.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Afghan Aid Bill Exceeds Bush Request
W A S H I N G T O N, May 16 — Afghanistan would receive more than $1 billion in U.S. aid over the next four years under House legislation that exceeds what President Bush requested.
The president asked Congress for an additional $250 million this year only to rebuild and redevelop Afghanistan, but House sponsors say it would be better to provide for multiple years of dedicated funding for needs ranging from education to eradication of opium poppies.
"In the months and years ahead, the United States will play a central role in helping Afghanistan recover from its darkest period," said a statement by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee.
The legislation, which the House was scheduled to vote on today, would authorize more than $1 billion in aid from 2002 to 2005. The actual amounts to be spent would have to be approved by Congress in later appropriations bills.
The assistance would take many forms, including urgent humanitarian needs such as food aid and disaster relief. Over the longer term, money would go to improve Afghanistan's education system, promote a democratic and stable form of government and rehabilitate such basic infrastructure as roads and bridges.
The U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department are among the agencies deeply involved in helping Afghanistan recover from years of rule by Taliban Muslim fundamentalists and the U.S.-led war on al Qaeda terrorists. Even the Defense Department is involved in civilian issues, such as rebuilding runways and schools.
A high priority of the House legislation would be drug control activities, particularly reducing the huge Afghan opium crop that is the source of much of the world's illicit heroin. The opium trade has helped terrorists fund their activities, the International Relations Committee found.
If Afghan authorities in opium-growing regions do not cooperate in reducing the drug trade, the legislation calls for assistance other than humanitarian aid to be transferred elsewhere in the country.
Money would also be used to improve security and to prevent terrorists from operating once again in Afghanistan.
To qualify for all non-humanitarian aid, the Afghan government would have to meet two simple conditions: full cooperation in counternarcotics efforts and a continued commitment to peace.
The legislation calls on the Bush administration to establish a single coordinator to oversee this assistance, which already involves at least a dozen agencies. The White House had not taken a position Wednesday on the measure, but two administration officials told the International Relations Committee in March that Afghanistan faces immense aid needs.
— The Associated Press |
