Posted on 06/02/2005 5:39:05 PM PDT by TexKat
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Roberto L. Garcia, government team chief, 353rd Civil Affairs Brigade, tosses a t-shirt to an Iraqi child at a village outside Baghdad, May 16, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jeremy D. Crisp
CARRIER TAKEOFF — An F/A-18C Hornet launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson as another Hornet awaits its turn to launch, June 1, 2005. The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is currently deployed to the Persian Gulf conducting operations in support of multinational forces in Iraq and maritime security operations in the Gulf. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dusty Howell
Army Reservists work to provide basic amenities for residents of French Village, a community built to house foreign workers constructing Baghdad's international airport.
By U.S. Army Spc. Jeremy D. Crisp Multinational Corps-Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 2, 2005 — A New York Army Reserve unit is doing their part to provide the citizens of Iraq with humanitarian aid, and a village on the outskirts of Baghdad is reaping the benefits.
The 353rd Civil Affairs Brigade, Staten Island, N.Y., was activated with one goal in mind: to help rebuild Iraq through humanitarian and government restructuring projects. One area where these soldiers are working toward that goal is in a community originally built to house workers constructing Baghdad - formerly Saddam -International Airport.
“From schools to hospitals, law, agriculture, water - everything from A to Z, we do it,” U.S. Army Lt. Col. Roberto L. Garcia
Iraqi “French” Village got its name from the nationality of the workers that took up residence there during airport construction. After the completion of airport, the French left the village and it is now home to the airport’s Iraqi employees and their families.
Of the 60 resident families in French Village, many don’t have some of the basic amenities that would be expected in a normal town, such as a full sewer system, electricity, running water and adequate school supplies. The 353rd Civil Affairs Brigade is working to change that.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Roberto L. Garcia, 353rd Civil Affairs Brigade government team chief, has been in Iraq since September, and he said the basic mission of his unit is to help restore the country of Iraq.
“From schools to hospitals, law, agriculture, water - everything from A to Z, we do it,” said Garcia, a Chicago resident and windy-city police officer.
The brigade works with Iraqi French Village council members to discuss concerns in the area, and a large part of Garcia’s agenda revolves around relief missions that provide the local children with school supplies and toys donated by American citizens.
On a visit to the village school May 17, Garcia found the children in the middle of final exams. The troops waited until the teachers gave the okay and all the children were done with their tests. Pencils, clothes, toys and notebooks were the order of the day, and as the last child received his bag of school supplies, Garcia deemed it another successful mission. He said the reception hasn’t always been as gracious.
“When we first showed up last year they didn’t know what to think,” Garcia said.
“The children were quiet and shy,” Garcia said. “Now you see the change in the kids. Initially they were a little scared; now they smile and are happy to see us.”
Along with providing students and teachers with needed supplies, the brigade has worked with the Multinational Corps-Iraq Chaplain’s Office in order to bring technology to the village school.
“About 2 ½ months ago, the (Multinational Corps-Iraq) Chaplain’s Office donated eight computers to the school,” Garcia said. “Our (communications shop) then jumped on board and began helping out.
“They’ve been going with us for the past month now, and not only have they been giving instruction to the teachers, they’ve also been networking the computers,” Garcia said. “This is where the kids can put the headsets on and train on given courses together.”
Garcia said his communications staff taught the teachers how to set the curriculum and gave them the “basic stuff that they need.”
“The teachers have picked it up real quick,” Garcia said.
For their efforts, the reputation the 353rd Civil Affairs Brigade has left in the village has paid dividends.
“Village residents will come up to us at our council meetings and tell us ‘this person might be a bad guy,’ or ‘we know something that the bad guys are doing to a convoy,’” Garcia said. “They do that because they have confidence in us and know that we are the good guys.”
Master Sgt. Paul G. Ayotte, operations planning team noncommissioned officer-in-charge, 353rd Civil Affairs Brigade, said something as little as a toy can make a difference. “They remember stuff like that,” he said.
Ayotte, from Winona, Minn., said, “They’ll remember that we weren’t bad; we just tried to help.”
On tap next for the brigade work in the village is a water treatment project.
“We are working with the (Hawaiian National Guard’s 2nd Battalion,) 299th Infantry Regiment to expand the village water pipe from 4 inches to 8 inches,” Garcia said.
He added that the two units are working to get a water tower built along with a water filtration system.
“We just keep moving forward,” Garcia said.
Friday, June 3, 2005
The Associated Press
Taking aim at the United States, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Thursday threatened retaliatory steps if any country should put weapons in space and said Moscow would not negotiate controls over tactical nuclear arms with nations that deploy them abroad, Russian media reported.
While he mentioned no country by name, Ivanov's comments reflected persistent wariness in the Russian military about U.S. intentions.
"Russia's position on this question has not changed for decades: We are categorically against weapons in space," Interfax quoted Ivanov as saying during a visit to the Baikonur space launch facility in Kazakhstan.
"If some state begins to realize such plans, then we doubtless will take adequate retaliatory measures," Itar-Tass quoted Ivanov as saying.
"We are prepared to start talks about tactical nuclear weapons only when all countries possessing them keep these weapons on their own territory," Interfax and Itar-Tass quoted Ivanov as saying.
"Russia stores its tactical nuclear weapons on its own territory, which cannot be said about other countries," Ivanov said.
Task Force Liberty soldiers and Iraqi Army cadre celebrate after the first Liberty soccer challenge between the Liberators and Iraqi Islanders at Forward Operating Base Danger, Tikrit, Iraq, May 30, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Peter K. Towse
Soccer Challenge Brings Armies Together
The 42nd Infantry Division’s Liberators played the Iraqi army’s Islanders in a Memorial Day soccer challenge at the Iraqi Island training site.
By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Peter K. Towse 42nd Infantry Division Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DANGER, Iraq, June 2, 2005 — U.S. soldiers from Task Force Liberty and their Iraqi Army partners took part in a Memorial Day soccer challenge on the playing field of the Iraqi Island training site May 30. The 42nd Infantry Division’s Liberators played the Iraqi army’s Islanders in a close game with the Americans netting a 3-2 victory.
"This was just good fun and good friends. There is no difference in culture on the soccer field," U.S. Army Lt. Col. Frantz Michel
The teams included Rainbow Division Soldiers from Forward Operating Base Danger and the Iraqi army cadre represented the Islanders from the Iraqi army’s 4th Division training academy, a small island adjacent to Forward Operating Base Danger in Tikrit.
“This is about fun,” said U.S. Army Major Don E. McArdle, the 4th Division Iraqi island training facility advisor and the captain of the Islanders. “If we won so be it, if not, we had a good time playing.”
The Americans scored the only goal in the first half of the game and another goal at the beginning of the second half. The Iraqi’s offense improved during the second half as the team scored two goals against the Americans to tie the score with six minutes remaining in the game. The Liberators scored another goal with four minutes left and the Islanders could not recover in time to tie.
“They came together and played well,” McArdle said of the Iraqi army team. “I am happy with the performance of the team.
A Task Force Liberty soldier Liberator and an Iraqi Army cadre Islander go for the ball during the first Liberty soccer challenge between the Liberators and Iraqi Islanders at Forward Operating Base Danger, Tikrit, Iraq, May 30, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Peter K. Towse
Overall, it was a success and we hope to play them again in a rematch.”
“It showed on the soccer field that we are just a bunch of guys here having fun,” said Lt. Col. Frantz Michel, the Liberators coach. “This was just good fun and good friends. There is no difference in culture on the soccer field.”
WASHINGTON | June 03, 2005 5:11:21 AM IST
Russia is considering the option of increasing its military presence in Kyrgyzstan, it was reported Thursday.
The Kremlin is considering the move in response to the Kyrgyzstan revolution in March and the recent unrest in Uzbekistan, the Eurasia Daily Monitor of the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation reported.
Senior officials with strong influence within the Kremlin have alluded to the town of Osh as the location of a future Russian base, reflecting Russian concerns about the instability of the Fergana Valley, Eurasia Daily Monitor said.
Other Russian officials have strenuously denied that such an agreement has yet been reached. Russia could, however, send as many as 1,000 troops to serve in Osh under the auspices of the Collective Security Treaty Organization or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Monitor said.
Reports suggest that Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is open to the idea of an additional Russian base, the Monitor said.
Also, a recent visit to Kyrgyzstan by Andrei Kokoshin, Chairman of the Russian State Duma's committee on Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs resulted in members of Kokoshin's delegation suggesting that officials on both sides were considering the prospect of expanding Russia's military presence, the Monitor said.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
By EDITH M. LEDERER
UNITED NATIONS - U.N. satellite imagery experts have determined that material that could be used to make biological or chemical weapons and banned long-range missiles has been removed from 109 sites in Iraq, U.N. weapons inspectors said in a report obtained Thursday.
U.N. inspectors have been blocked from returning to Iraq since the U.S.-led war in 2003 so they have been using satellite photos to see what happened to the sites that were subject to U.N. monitoring because their equipment had both civilian and military uses.
In the report to the U.N. Security Council, acting chief weapons inspector Demetrius Perricos said he's reached no conclusions about who removed the items or where they went. He said it could have been moved elsewhere in Iraq, sold as scrap, melted down or purchased.
He said the missing material can be used for legitimate purposes. "However, they can also be utilized for prohibited purposes if in a good state of repair."
He said imagery analysts have identified 109 sites that have been emptied of equipment to varying degrees, up from 90 reported in March.
The report also provided much more detail about the percentage of items no longer at the places where U.N. inspectors monitored them.
From the imagery analysis, Perricos said analysts at the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission which he heads have concluded that biological sites were less damaged than chemical and missile sites.
The commission, known as UNMOVIC, previously reported the discovery of some equipment and material from the sites in scrapyards in Jordan and the Dutch port of Rotterdam.
Perricos said analysts found, for example, that 53 of the 98 vessels that could be used for a wide range of chemical reactions had disappeared. "Due to its characteristics, this equipment can be used for the production of both commercial chemicals and chemical warfare agents," he said.
The report said 3,380 valves, 107 pumps, and more than 7.8 miles of pipes were known to have been located at the 39 chemical sites.
A third of the chemical items removed came from the Qaa Qaa industrial complex south of Baghdad which the report said "was among the sites possessing the highest number of dual-use production equipment," whose fate is now unknown." Significant quantities of missing material were also located at the Fallujah II and Fallujah III facilities north of the city, which was besieged last year.
Before the first Gulf War in 1991, those facilities played a major part in the production of precursors for Iraq's chemical warfare program.
The percentages of missing biological equipment from 12 sites were much smaller _ no higher than 10 percent.
The report said 37 of 405 fermenters ranging in size from 2 gallons to 1,250 gallons had been removed. Those could be used to produce pharmaceuticals and vaccines as well as biological warfare agents such as anthrax.
The largest percentages of missing items were at the 58 missile facilities, which include some of the key production sites for both solid and liquid propellant missiles, the report said.
For example, 289 of the 340 pieces of equipment to produce missiles _ about 85 percent _ had been removed, it said.
At the Kadhimiyah and Al Samoud factory sites in suburban Baghdad, where the report said airframes and engines for liquid propellant missiles were manufactured and final assembly was carried out, "all equipment and missile components have been removed."
UNMOVIC is the outgrowth of a U.N. inspections process created after the 1991 Gulf War in which invading Iraqi forces were ousted from Kuwait. Its staff are considered the only multinational weapons experts specifically trained in biological weapons and missile disarmament.
The report noted that the commissioners who advise UNMOVIC again raised questions about its future. Iraq has called for its Security Council mandate to be terminated because UNMOVIC is funded from past Iraqi oil sales and it wants to be treated like other countries, but the council has not taken up the issue.
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said Thursday the commission's expertise "should not be lost for the international community."
A service of the Associated Press(AP)
Whoopi. Comcast finally realized that there was a problem in the area after 2 technician visits. And another technician with his utility truck out repairing all day Sunday, looks as though they finally fixed the problem.
I will keep my fingers,legs and toes crossed as I click the mouse here. And I also thank the cable company for my $9.00 credit for disrupted service for almost 3 weeks.
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Joe Gazzam, a machine gunner with the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment provides security during a vehicle checkpoint in the vicinity of Methar Lam, Afghanistan, May 20 2005. 3rd Battalion. The 3rd Marines is conducting security and stabilization operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James L. Yarboro
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Gabriel Rudner, a machine gunner, and Lance Cpl. Jeremy Bingham, an assault man with the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment provide security during a vehicle checkpoint in the vicinity of Methar Lam, Afghanistan, May 20 2005. The 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines is conducting security and stabilization operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James L. Yarboro
U.S. Marines of the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment patrol through the countryside in the vicinity of Methar Lam, Afghanistan, May 22, 2005. The battalion is conducting security and stabilization operations in support of OperationEnduring Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James L. Yarboro
A U.S. Marine with the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, patrol through the countryside during a security operation in the vicinity of Methar Lam, Afghanistan, May 22, 2005. The battalion is conducting security and stabilization operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James L. Yarboro
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Robert Vasquez an assault man with the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment provides security during a vehicle checkpoint in the vicinity of Methar Lam, Afghanistan, May 22, 2005. The battalion is conducting security and stabilization operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James L. Yarboro
Soldiers of the Afghan National Army search local nationals while conducting a vehicle checkpoint in the vicinity of Methar Lam, Afghanistan, May 22, 2005. The battalion is conducting security and stabilization operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James L. Yarboro
Soldiers of the Afghan National Army search a van while conducting a vehicle checkpoint in the vicinity of Methar Lam, Afghanistan, May 22, 2005. The battalion is conducting security and stabilization operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James L. Yarboro
Soldiers of the Afghan National Army search a van while conducting a vehicle checkpoint in the vicinity of Methar Lam, Afghanistan, May 22, 2005. The battalion is conducting security and stabilization operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James L. Yarboro
U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Nestor Davila, a machine gunner with the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment provides security during a vehicle checkpoint in the vicinity of Methar Lam, Afghanistan, May 20 2005. The 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines is conducting security and stabilization operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James L. Yarboro
MARTHA WAGGONER Associated Press
Posted on Thu, Jun. 02, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. - A former CIA contractor accused of beating an Afghan prisoner who later died in custody was charged Thursday with allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, authorities said.
David Passaro - the first civilian to be prosecuted on charges of mistreating a military detainee in the U.S. war on terrorism - was arrested after his girlfriend told authorities that he pushed her into a door, causing her to fall down stairs.
He was charged with assault, injury to personal property and misdemeanor larceny.
Passaro, a former Special Forces soldier recruited by the CIA, also faces four counts of assault in Afghanistan. He is accused of beating prisoner Abdul Wali with his hands, feet and a large flashlight while Wali was interrogated for two days at an American base in Afghanistan in June 2003.
Wali had turned himself in to U.S. forces, who sought him as a suspect in rocket attacks on the base. He later died in custody.
Passaro, 38, was released from jail in August after a federal judge said prosecutors failed to show he was a flight risk or a threat to the community.
Passaro has denied playing any role in Wali's death and maintains he was made a scapegoat by the military following the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. He faces a maximum 40 years in prison and $1 million in fines if convicted. The trial is scheduled for July.
Passaro was part of a four-man CIA team based at a remote base near the Pakistan border in an area known as a crossing point for Taliban and al-Qaida fighters. He was on leave from a civilian job with the Fort Bragg-headquartered Special Operations Command.
Pakistan-Born Long Island Woman Charged With Airline Bomb Threat
POSTED: 7:21 pm EDT June 2, 2005 NEW YORK -- A Long Island woman was charged Thursday with making a false bomb threat that caused a flight to Pakistan to turn around in mid-air.
Samina Faisal was released on $250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in federal court in Brooklyn. She and her lawyer declined to comment on the charge.
An FBI agent alleged in an arrest warrant affidavit that Faisal, a native of Pakistan, told a 911 dispatcher on Feb. 13 that there were two bombs aboard the commercial flight. The affidavit said the sister of Faisal's boyfriend was being deported to Pakistan aboard the flight.
The plane turned around and returned to John F. Kennedy International Airport, where it was emptied of passengers and searched by police dogs. No bombs were found.
Bump!!
03 Jun 2005 00:53:07 GMT - Source: Reuters
By Mary Milliken
LA PAZ, Bolivia, June 2 (Reuters) - Roadblocks by peasants and a 48-hour transport strike brought Bolivia's capital to a standstill and cut it off from the airport on Thursday as protests demanding the nationalization of the energy sector showed no signs of abating.
After two weeks of protests, 60 percent of Bolivia's highways remained blocked and six major cities isolated, including the capital.
Downtown La Paz was calmer after three days of violent protests as tens of thousands of Indian protesters had no transport into the capital. But radical groups continued to threaten merchants and pelt cars with rocks and fruit.
Schools were shut and many workers stayed at home, either because of fear or lack of transport.
"People are afraid to come out," said Celia Sanchez, who closed her juice stand early as protesters roamed La Paz's Rodriguez market, threatening those who refused to shut down.
Bolivian President Carlos Mesa, a political independent with little legislative support, has put the onus on Congress to dispel the worst tension since a bloody Indian revolt toppled Washington ally Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada in October 2003.
For the third day, the fragmented Congress, dominated by traditional and young indigenous parties, failed to reach an agreement on the agenda and hold its first session in two weeks.
The main opposition and indigenous leader, Evo Morales of the Movement to Socialism, left parliament in a huff and said: "Now the battle will be on the streets."
Mesa, who unsuccessfully tried to work with the indigenous majority, has vowed not to use violence against protesters and has limited police intervention to tear gas to disperse protesters and some arrests of vandals. No one has been killed or seriously injured in the two weeks.
The Foreign Ministry maintained that Bolivia's situation "doesn't justify international mediation" after the U.S. State Department said Bolivia would be discussed at the Organization of American States general assembly next week.
INVESTORS RETREAT
Teachers, healthcare workers, truckers and miners have jumped on the nationalization bandwagon after Congress approved a law two weeks ago that fell short of their aspirations of state control over Bolivia's most precious resource -- the second largest natural gas reserves in Latin America.
Companies have also balked at the new law's sharp increase in taxes and Spain's Repsol YPF said it would cut back planned investments of $850 million for 2005-2009.
"In the new legal framework, for the moment, the most significant investments will not be profitable, and logically, it will not be possible to carry them out," said Repsol, which has already invested $1 billion in Bolivian gas.
Adding to the political deadlock are the demands of the wealthy eastern provinces, home to Bolivia's oil and gas, which want more autonomy from La Paz to exploit their resources -- a move firmly rejected by the Indians of the barren west.
Congress is trying to hammer out a compromise agenda that would address the autonomy issue and an assembly to rewrite the constitution to give more power to the indigenous majority. The energy law is not on its agenda.
"We are standing up for nationalization of hydrocarbons and the constituent assembly. If we don't get it, then we start the hunger strike," said Fortunato Tola, an indigenous farmer who has been sleeping at a university for the past two weeks.
La Paz's international airport, located in the militant Indian city of El Alto, was still open, but passengers could not get past the morning roadblocks and dwindling fuel stocks caused some flight cancellations.
Some travelers chose to walk up the steep hillsides of La Paz to the airport with help from porters, while arriving tourists trekked down and hired cyclists to carry their luggage. (Additional reporting by Mario Roque in El Alto)
AlertNet news
President Pervez Musharraf said that a top Al-Qaeda operative arrested in Pakistan was being handed over to the United States which regards him a key ally in war against terrorism.(AFP/HO-PID)
Libbi to be deported to US: Mush
AFP[ THURSDAY, JUNE 02, 2005 07:41:09 AM ]
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday said a top al-Qaida operative arrested in Pakistan was being handed over to the US, which regards the country a key ally in the war against terror.
"We are obviously going to deport him. We have extracted all the information and intelligence from him,"Musharraf said, referring to Abu Faraj al-Libbi, who was arrested earlier this month.
"I presume that he may have been deported already to the United States,"Musharraf told CNN in an interview late on Tuesday, adding that until three days ago al-Libbi was in Pakistan.
Al-Libbi is the alleged mastermind of two attempts on Musharraf's life in December 2003, and a bid to assassinate PM Shaukat Aziz.
Asked why Pakistan was deporting al-Libbi even though he was involved on two assassination attempts on him, Musharraf said there were "bigger issues"involved.
Pakistan: Musharraf Mistaken About Arrests
Thu Jun 2, 7:00 AM ET
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday said a top al-Qaida operative arrested in Pakistan was being handed over to the US, which regards the country a key ally in the war against terror.
"We are obviously going to deport him. We have extracted all the information and intelligence from him,"Musharraf said, referring to Abu Faraj al-Libbi, who was arrested earlier this month.
"I presume that he may have been deported already to the United States,"Musharraf told CNN in an interview late on Tuesday, adding that until three days ago al-Libbi was in Pakistan.
Al-Libbi is the alleged mastermind of two attempts on Musharraf's life in December 2003, and a bid to assassinate PM Shaukat Aziz.
Asked why Pakistan was deporting al-Libbi even though he was involved on two assassination attempts on him, Musharraf said there were "bigger issues"involved.
President calls for greater access to US market
Friday, June 03, 2005
ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf stressed on Thursday the importance of increasing trade and investment links between Pakistan and the United States. He also reiterated the need for the US to provide greater market access to Pakistani products.
Meeting a three-member US Congressional delegation led by Michel Sodrel, and including Representatives Jim Costa and Lincoln Davis, the president was satisfied that Pak-US relations had gained a strategic dimension mutually beneficial to both countries. He praised Congress’s bipartisan support towards a broad-based, long-term relationship between the countries.
Musharraf said that political, economic and defence cooperation had increased over the years. He told the delegation about Pakistan’s role in the campaign against terrorism and added that the country was committed to rooting out terrorism. He elaborated upon his concept of ‘enlightened moderation’, which calls on the West to help address political disputes that give rise to extremism and to assist Islamic countries in promoting economic and social development.
The delegation assured the president of support for a sustainable relationship. They praised Pakistan’s contribution to the campaign against terrorism and agreed that creating economic opportunities would be a critical factor in addressing extremism. The delegation also appreciated the government’s economic and social reforms.
The delegation also underlined Pakistan’s important role in the region and expressed support for efforts to promote regional peace and stability. Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri was also present at the meeting. The delegation is on a three-day visit to Pakistan and was accompanied by US Ambassador Ryan C Crocker during the meeting.
Ping to this post, as it is about one of the planes that was called back for a bomb threat in Feb.
Pakistan flight.
"He's hiding in Pakistan in the northern tribal areas above Peshawar", Schoren claims
Pakistan ISI officials know where’s Bin Laden - Aljazeera
6/2/2005 7:30:00 PM GMT
"He's hiding in Pakistan in the northern tribal areas above Peshawar", Schoren claims
The Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf may not be knowing where would al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden be hiding within Pakistan's territorial limits, but ISI officials are aware about his whereabouts, according to CIA officer Gary Schroen, who spearheaded U.S.' search for Osama in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's tribal regions would explode upon news of the death or capture of Bin Laden, which makes President Musharraf afraid of the internal political consequences of finding Al Qaeda chief that he doesn't even want to know where is he, Schroen said.
"I think the philosophy of the Taliban, this fundamentalist view, is popular there. So Bin Laden, I think, strikes them as heroic. He fought a jihad against the Russians, and he's bloodied America's nose time and again," the CIA veteran said, adding that regardless of how much reward money America offers, "Bin Laden would not be captured and handed in".
Schroen claims that Musharraf wasn’t helping the U.S. forces to seriously crackdown on the Bin Laden. "He's hiding in Pakistan in the northern tribal areas above Peshawar - an area that is rugged, hilly, heavily forested. The U.S. government and the U.S. military are not authorized by the Musharraf government to enter there unilaterally. As long as he stays in place, it is going to be almost impossible to find him," Schroen was quoted by The Daily Times as saying.
Schroen said earlier that he had developed two plans to capture or kill Osama (in 1998 and then a year later), but both were turned down by the CIA.
He said "I can only speculate, but it is based on almost 20 years of dealing with the Pakistani military and ISI officers. I think at some level, probably the colonel level, there are officers probably in ISI who know where Bin Laden is, "A man of that caliber (Bin Laden) could not be hidden out for that many years without word getting out in the community. So, I think some people probably know within ISI and the military." according to the paper.
Yesterday President Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan is handing over Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the recently captured Al Qaeda suspect to the U.S.
Al Libbi, a Libyan, didn’t provide the Pakistani authorities with any useful information about Osama bin Laden, President Musharraf said.
In Washington, a U.S. State Department spokesman said that the U.S. government is talking to Pakistan about Libbi, but it has not discussed anything about his extradition.
Libbi, was caught in Karachi on 2 May after a gunfight.
He is accused to have attempted to assassinate President Musharraf twice.
Libbi, described as No 3 man in al-Qaeda's network, did not reveal anything that indicated he had contact with Laden, President Musharraf said.
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