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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (43702)	3/6/2003 6:57:04 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

US, Pakistan intensify hunt for Osama * Officials hope for early capture * Khalid-Bin Laden February meeting ‘rubbish’ ISLAMABAD: Reports that captured Al-Qaeda operations chief Khalid Sheikh Mohammad met Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in February were purely speculative, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said Thursday. dailytimes.com.pk “It is sheer conjecture,” the official, on the team that interrogated Mohammed during his three days in captivity in Pakistan, told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The fact is that Khalid was caught only hours after his arrival in Rawalpindi,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP. “Khalid admitted he was in contact with Osama bin Laden as late as this year, but insisted he was unaware of his whereabouts,” the official said. Sheikh Mohammed and bin Laden had communicated through a complex chain of messengers, involving a combination of email and couriers, he said. “He admitted to receiving Bin Laden’s messages this year.” The New York Times reported that Khalid had met Bin Laden in February possibly in Rawalpindi. The Times also said officials in Washington said they knew of no specific information that would show the two men had recently met. But they saw a meeting between the terrorist leader and his main lieutenant as plausible and said it would suggest not only that Bin Laden remained in charge of Al Qaeda but also that planning was under way for a major attack. The Pakistani intelligence official said Khalid had been in Balochistan in February, and had narrowly escaped a raid on an Egyptian Al Qaeda suspect’s hideout. He said Pakistani and US agents had stepped up the hunt for Osama in Balochistan and the country’s far north, a senior security official said late Thursday. “There is a possibility that Bin Laden could be hiding in Balochistan close to the Afghan border or in Chitral,” the official told AFP, on condition of anonymity. “These areas are being searched.” “I will not say that we are close to the man, but there are some very important pieces of information with us,” the official said. “If the information is accurate, then he can’t hide for long.” White House cautious: The White House on Thursday refused to confirm reports that Osama is alive and that US and Pakistani authorities are tightening the noose around him. “I’m not in the position to confirm anything about that,” said spokesman Ari Fleischer, who told reporters that recent audiotapes purportedly by the al-Qaeda leader strongly suggested he was still alive. Fleischer was cautious about the impact on the hunt for Bin Laden of the capture of Khalid. “We don’t know with precision exactly what the information we’re getting will lead to. I would not want to exaggerate or overblow or overestimate anything. We are hopeful that it will lead to considerable information,” he said. Washington correspondent adds: The American television network ABC has quoted US officials as saying that there is new optimism that Osama Bin Laden might soon be captured because of information obtained from Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. Officials believe Bin Laden may be in Balochistan, near Pakistan’s border with Iran. Khalid has extensive family roots in the area. “This has strengthened our belief that we are going to get him,” one US intelligence official told ABC.