'High-Value Target' Surrounded in Pakistan - Thread 2

So very predictable for the arab media.

81 posted on 03/19/2004 3:51:34 AM PST by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)

Good part they all walked out , so he won't have to answer their stupid questions

82 posted on 03/19/2004 3:56:38 AM PST by not-alone

83 posted on 03/19/2004 3:58:03 AM PST by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)

I turned it on now..everyone will be tough on him..He can handle it.He's been under fire where you could die from a mistake!

84 posted on 03/19/2004 4:01:02 AM PST by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)

85 posted on 03/19/2004 4:01:30 AM PST by aloysius89 (FReepers know all and are finding out the rest.)

To: Anti-Bubba182

[snip]
Fifteen Pakistani soldiers had been killed in the fighting since Thursday but, despite the losses, they were closing in on the militants' positions, said a government official based in the border region.

"At least 15 soldiers have been killed since yesterday," said the official, who declined to be identified.

"There's ferocious resistance but a house-to-house search has started on the outskirts of Shin Warsak," he said.
[snip]
"We are closing in on them. Their defense seems to be dying down," one senior security official, Brigadier Mehmood Shah, told Reuters.
[snip]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4605252&section=news

86 posted on 03/19/2004 4:17:35 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer (The democRATS are near the tipping point.)

To: Oldeconomybuyer

Fingers crossed...but I remain really detached.(LOL)

87 posted on 03/19/2004 4:30:22 AM PST by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)

Good morning Meg, I just got caught up on both threads.
I'm assuming that this will be the thread of the day.
I was convinced that I would wake to some news of a capture or kill of AZ.
Maybe we will hear somthing when GW gives his speech this AM.
Fingers crossed....praying for our Troops and allied fighters!

88 posted on 03/19/2004 4:57:39 AM PST by Jackie-O

God bless those in harm's way.I am ~trying~ not to get my hopes up too much because of all the OBL stories that went nowhere.

89 posted on 03/19/2004 5:01:24 AM PST by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)

Friday, March 19, 2004 (Waziristan):

A spokesperson for the Taliban has denied reports that top al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has been surrounded in a part of northwestern Pakistan near Afghanistan.

Speaking over a satellite phone from southern Afghanistan, Abdul Samad has dismissed reports from Pakistani sources that a high-value al-Qaida target - possibly al-Zawahiri - had been surrounded and was under attack.

Al-Zawahiri is the second in command to the al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Thousands of Pakistani troops met fierce resistance today from fighters near the Afghan border.

"The militants appear to be well dug-in in mud fortresses. They are determined to fight till the end," military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said.

The fighters were using mortars and small arms. Officials said the level of resistance suggested they could be protecting Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

However, there has been no confirmation on the identity of the target. There was also no indication whether Laden was with al-Zawahri. However, the two have traveled together in the past, and appeared jointly in video-tapes released shortly after the September 11 attacks.

US cautious

The US too has been cautious in its response and some voices in the US establishment feel this will have little impact on the ground in the fight against terror.

"It is important and helpful but the fight must go on and he is a very visible object of our effort," said Carl Levin, a Democrat Senator.

"But we can't say that if we capture him, the level of violence will be reduced either in Afghanistan, Iraq or other places," he added.

Laden's spiritual aide

Zawahri is not just a key Osama aide but is also supposed to be the spiritual advisor to the al-Qaida chief.

He founded the Egypt Oslamic Jihad in 1979 and was a well to do doctor, before dedicating himself to the Islamic jihad in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union.

Zawahri has left his fingerprints in terrorist attacks from Africa to the September 11 attacks in the US.

The man first came under the spotlight in 1981 when he was charged with attempting to assassinate Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. In 1985, he met bin Laden, who shortly thereafter formed al-Qaida.

'Most dangerous'

In August 1998 Zawahri merged his Egyptian Islamic Jihad into bin Laden's al-Qaida, becoming the number two in the al-Qaida network.

Now in his early 50's, Zawahri is considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world, believed to be the brains behind the September 11 attacks of 2001.

If he is indeed caught, it will not only be a major blow to the al-Qaida network but it will also mean that one of the major faces in the world of global terrorism will have been captured.

And it might also turn the tide in the favour of US President George W Bush in the forthcoming elections. (With AP inputs)

90 posted on 03/19/2004 5:36:08 AM PST by Dog Gone

Yeah, I just logged on , and am somewhat disappointed. I hope this isn't Tora Bora all over again. I hope all troops involved for the good guys are safe.

91 posted on 03/19/2004 5:40:13 AM PST by WV Mountain Mama (John Kerry is a world class NUMB NUTS. His facial wrinkles are NUMB and all his ideas are NUTS!)

I had a conversation yesterday with a liberal who's prepared to vote for Kerry because he's not Bush. Anybody but Bush, she said. She's an "environmentalist" and I asked what Kerry's policy is. No answer. Anybody got details on how Kerry plans to "protect the environment"?

92 posted on 03/19/2004 5:42:04 AM PST by sarasota

Anybody got details on how Kerry plans to "protect the environment"?

By raising taxes, of course!

93 posted on 03/19/2004 5:43:49 AM PST by Types_with_Fist ("You'll never get the pass code Eric!")

I caught a glimpse of Geraldo last night on Fox but didn't recognize the background and I didn't hear the report.

94 posted on 03/19/2004 5:46:25 AM PST by sarasota

To: Types_with_Fist

And using the taxes to pay for...?

95 posted on 03/19/2004 5:49:22 AM PST by sarasota

Oh, I don't propose any actual theory behind it. It just seems to be their answer for everything.

96 posted on 03/19/2004 5:50:44 AM PST by Types_with_Fist ("You'll never get the pass code Eric!")

Thanks DG!
This Taliban spokesman...is he AKA Bagdad Bob by any chance?

97 posted on 03/19/2004 5:51:28 AM PST by Jackie-O

To: Types_with_Fist

98 posted on 03/19/2004 5:51:36 AM PST by NeoCaveman (Hey John F'in. Kerry, why the long face?)

To: Anti-Bubba182

Could you ping me to any updates, please?

Thanks!

99 posted on 03/19/2004 5:53:29 AM PST by 2Jedismom (HHD with 4 Chickens)

To: dubyaismypresident

100 posted on 03/19/2004 5:54:50 AM PST by Quilla

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