Report: Bin Laden escaped dragnet
TORA BORA, Afghanistan, March 5 (UPI) -- Reports have been received in eastern Afghanistan that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden dodged a Pakistani raid to capture him, the BBC said Friday.
A local official told the BBC the information came in a fax sent to a former Taliban member three days ago.
The official, who did not want to be named, said he met a former member of the Taliban who had received a fax that said "the Sheikh" -- bin Laden's nickname -- was alive and well and had escaped an attempt by Pakistani forces to catch him on their side of the border last week in the tribal areas of South Waziristan.
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040305-090123-6619r.htmBlair warns of WMD terror threat
Friday, March 5, 2004 Posted: 8:25 AM EST (1325 GMT)
LONDON, England (CNN) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned of the "real" threat of international terrorism and how it has to be confronted at all costs.
Blair, speaking to an invited audience in his Sedgefield constituency in northeast England on Friday, mounted a detailed defense of the war against Iraq -- and made his firmest link yet between terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
The international community must face up to the "mortal danger" posed by al Qaeda and its allies, Blair said.
"The 21st century is unconventional in almost every respect," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/05/uk.blair/index.html