Commander: Osama Probably Not in Pakistan Region
Tue Oct 19, 2004
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) is unlikely to be hiding in Pakistan's tribal region near the Afghan border, the top military commander in the area said on Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain, military commander for northwestern Pakistan, said the strong presence of security forces in the rugged tribal region and on the border had made it hard for Washington's most wanted man to sneak into Pakistan.
"The way the army is deployed, there is nothing beyond my eyes and ears," he told reporters in the main northwestern city of Peshawar.
"I have a very good surveillance system ... I can say he (bin Laden) is not here."
A large number of al Qaeda men fled to Pakistan after U.S.-led forces launched a hunt in Afghanistan (news - web sites) for them following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, prompting U.S. officials to believe that their leader bin Laden might be hiding in the border region of the two countries.
The U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Lieutenant-General David Barno, told Reuters last month Bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda figures were most likely to be hiding in Pakistan where they could be well protected by their foreign fighters in the remote tribal region.
Hundreds of al Qaeda fighters, including Chechens, Uzbeks and Arabs, are believed to be hiding in the South Waziristan tribal region.
Hussain said middle-ranking al Qaeda officials, like Tahir Yuldashev, leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, might be among the foreign fighters holed up in the rugged region but dismissed the possibility Bin Laden was there.
"There is no area which has not been swept through by us. Had he been there ... I would have gotten him by now."
South Waziristan has been the scene of fierce clashes between the security forces and al Qaeda-linked militants in recent months.
Hussain said at least 246 militants, including 100 foreigners, had been killed and more than 550 had been arrested since March. He said about 171 security forces had been killed in these clashes.
Pakistan has deployed more than 70,000 troops in its tribal belt since it joined U.S.-led war on terror in 2001, which was prompted by the Sept 11 U.S. attacks blamed on al Qaeda.
Meanwhile, three Pakistani soldiers were killed and three others were wounded when al Qaeda-linked militants attacked a military convoy in South Waziristan Tuesday.
A military spokesman said troops came under fire in Spinkay Raghzai, the area where a local al Qaeda-linked militant commander, Abdullah Mehsud, is believed to be hiding.
He said the troops also returned the fire but did not have details of casualties from the other side.
Pakistani authorities have vowed to hunt down Abdullah, a former Guantanamo Bay inmate who masterminded the abduction of two Chinese engineers working on a dam in the area on Oct. 9.
One of the hostages was killed after army commandos launched a rescue operation last week.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=574&e=7&u=/nm/20041019/wl_nm/security_pakistan_osama_dc
" "The way the army is deployed, there is nothing beyond my eyes and ears," he told reporters in the main northwestern city of Peshawar.
"I have a very good surveillance system ... I can say he (bin Laden) is not here." "
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