Posted on 09/25/2005 11:51:25 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Osama bin Laden is hiding out with a small core of mainly Arab supporters, and the al-Qaeda leader now only sends messages by courier because his communications network has been destroyed, senior Pakistani military and intelligence officials said Sunday.
There have been no fresh clues to bin Laden's whereabouts, but he generally is believed to be in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"In our opinion, the reports on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden are more speculative stories rather than based on accurate intelligence," said Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, chief spokesman for Pakistan's army.
Pakistan has deployed some 80,000 troops to its rugged border regions running along Afghanistan, fighting intense battles with al-Qaeda-linked militants.
CBS' "60 Minutes" will report Sunday that Pakistani officials believe bin Laden may be hiding in Afghanistan, where he is protected by a very small number of people to keep a low profile.
A Pakistani intelligence official in the northwestern city of Peshawar, near the Afghan border, said bin Laden probably is accompanied by "dozens" of mainly Arab supporters. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the secretive nature of his job.
Security officials in Pakistan – Washington's front-line Muslim ally in the war on terrorism – also believe bin Laden's communications network has been destroyed.
"For a very long time there are no intercepts about Osama bin Laden giving instructions to his regional commanders, either through radio, telephone, satellite phone or the Internet," a senior security official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject.
"If he is unable to give orders physically or otherwise, it clearly indicates that his communication has been severed."
In the past, bin Laden would be surrounded by up to 500 people, the Peshawar-based intelligence official said, adding that his communications network has been reduced to human couriers, where a message "changes several hands" between its point of origin and final destination.
"This is a very slow and exposed way of communicating," the official said.
Security forces seized a letter from bin Laden during a raid in Rawalpindi in 2003 in which al-Qaeda's then-No. 3 leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed – a suspected planner of the Sept. 11 attacks – was captured. Mohammed is believed to have received the letter via the courier network, the official said.
Pakistani officials say more than 700 al-Qaeda suspects, including senior figures like Mohammed, have been arrested.
Officials also say that information gleaned from al-Qaeda has led to the arrests of militants outside Pakistan and helped prevent terrorist attacks abroad.
"The arrest of Naeem Noor Khan led to the arrest of a big gang ... ahead of the British elections," Sultan said, claiming that the people arrested in Britain planned to attack Heathrow Airport.
Last year, intelligence agents arrested Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, 25, an alleged Pakistani computer expert for al-Qaeda. A reported tip-off from Khan led to the arrest of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian on the FBI's most-wanted list for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa that killed more than 200 people.
There were media reports that Mohammed Sidique Khan – one of the suspected bombers in the deadly July 7 explosions in London – may have had ties with members of an alleged terrorist cell that matched information from Noor Khan's computer.
Associated Press reporter Riaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this report.
Sounds an awful lot like the stuff the Taliban controlled
Afghan "Govt" used to say about Bin Laden & the Al Qaeda.
These Islamofascists are nothing more than cowards and they prove it every day.
Bin Ladin, Zarquawi, Hussein --- all cowards hiding behind brainwashed suicide bombers and big words.
I laugh at the Muslim Male, for he is a eunuch.
"Communications cut"--that means that the Pakistani military disconnected Osama's phone in the basement of the safe house where he's hiding.
Oh, well, then, heck. Never mind.
Call the guys home. Our bad.
Not really.
However this does confirm what I have been thinking. As the Center becomes more and more isolated and impotent the danger from the Regional groups becomes less. They are reduced to suicide attempts, mere terrorism. This cannot defeat a coordinated military and political campaign.
It also shows the greater need for a strategy to defeat the Treason Media's attempts to undermine domestic morale and provoke withdrawal from Iraq. Our principal enemy remains within.
Karl Rove asked OBL to release that tape before the election, remember? The one Walter Cronkite was convinced it was staged by the GOP.
Good news bump!
First off UBL is very much alive and everyone from the NCO hunting his as$ to the SecDef and CIC are well aware of this fact -
With regard to the video tape put out last Oct (prior to the election) that tape most certainly was verified by both the CIA (for what that is actually worth) and by common sense - UBL was speaking of John Kerry and recent events throughout that tape (UBL had no clue about J. Kerry or those recent events back in 01).
The fact is there was a period of time that U.S. Command thought possibly that UBL was dead between DEC 01 and March 02 - However late in March of 02 undeniable evidence was obtained that UBL was very much alive - The comments coming out of the WH, CIC, SECDEF and Pentagon all changed noticeably at this time period / March 02-
If one has a true understanding of the terrain in the Afghan/Pak/China border region (some of the most brutal on earth) along with an understanding of the local customs and tribal leaders ....you would have a clear understanding of just how difficult (close to impossible for large segments of each year) it really is to catch / kill UBL / Zawahiri in this region).
We have over 140,000 U.S. Soldiers in Iraq, we have control over over 90% + of that Country, we have the full support of a newly elected Gov't along with the general appreciation from the majority of the public (in Iraq) and yet Zarqawi still remains at large -
We have less then 10,000 Soldiers in Stan and not even a fraction of that hunting in the border regions (for very good reasons) - The complexities of sustained Ops in much of the border regions narrow the numbers of those who can operate there greatly (and do it effectively).
Continuing to shorten our OODA loop in Iraq is the key to killing Zarqawi - But catching UBL is much more difficult then simply that -
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