Posted on 12/29/2001 1:15:23 AM PST by duck soup
Osama, Omar both in Pakistan: al Qaeda captives
Press Trust of India
New Delhi, December 29: Fugitive terrorist Osama bin Laden is reported to have escaped from Tora Bora in Afghanistan as early as on November 19 and is hiding in Bajaur area of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, according to information received from interrogation of al Qaeda functionaries by US intelligence agencies.
Taliban supremo Mullah Mohammad Omar, who is also on the run, crossed over into Pakistan on December 6 and is stated to be in Gilgit area, informed sources quoting these reports said.
The al Qaeda functionaries, nabbed during the war, are also reported to have told their interrogators that bin Laden was being given shelter in Bajaur by the men of Sufi Mohammad, chief of tribal extremist outfit Tariq-e-Nifaz Shariat Mohammadi.
Mohammad, who had fought alongside Taliban in Kunduz area, was arrested on November 22 by Pakistan when he tried to sneak in through mountain passes, the reports said.
The presence of bin Laden in FATA has made it difficult for the US to nab the terrorist mastermind as even Pakistani troops cannot enter this area because the violent tribal groups, who have historically never been subdued by people from outside.
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