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http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=78731

Pentagon to field more sophisticated surveillance on Pakistani border

Tuesday September 28, 2004 (1448 PST)

ISLAMABAD, September 29 (Online): The Pentagon is considering to add more sophisticated surveillance equipment to trap Osama bin Laden and his top aide, Aimen Al-Zawahri along Pakistani border, reported CNN quoting official sources.

E-8 Joint Stars, the long-range, aerial surveillance aircraft can locate, classify and track ground targets in any type of weather and it also can receive a video feed from a Predator drone and then mark targets for attack, it said.

RC-135 Rivet Joint, another sophisticated a long-range, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft that can travel more than 500 mph, sources added.

The decision to send the RC-135 and E-8 Joint STARS to the Pakistan-Afghan border region hasn't been made yet, but sources said the capabilities of both aircraft would be crucial to the strategy of tracking down Osama bin Laden in the area.

Besides Unmanned Predator drones, U-2 spy plane, Satellite communication, Unattended ground sensors (UGS), Satellite communication, Border search, the couple of E-8 Joint Stars and RC-135 Rivet Joint would supplement the ground forces to trap down the OBL and his top aides who, according to US reports were hiding in Pakistan tribal belt.

Unmanned Predator drones, equipped with cameras that can spot vehicles and people, will fly at 25,000 feet. Predators are equipped with special radar that enables them to fly through clouds. Some of the drones may also carry Hellfire missiles.

U-2 spy planes will fly at 70,000 feet, taking photographs, using radar and intercepting communications. The United States designed the U-2, which can fly at a speed of 475 mph (Mach 0.68), in 1955 to spy on the Soviet Union.

Data from both the planes and sensors will be sent nearly instantaneously via satellite to analysts.

Ground sensors may be placed -- either buried by troops or dropped from a plane -- along mountain passes to listen for vehicles. The sensors detect sound and motion and communicate that information to military analysts via satellite.

Data from both the planes and sensors will be sent nearly instantaneously via satellite to analysts.

The search is concentrated on the mountains along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The United States does not have any troops in Pakistan, but the Pakistani military is cooperating and conducting its own hunt for bin Laden.

http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=78718

Man who arranged house for Farooqi arrested

Tuesday September 28, 2004 (1439 PST)

NAWABSHAH, September 29 (Online): Security agencies Tuesday arrested Maulvi Muhammad Younis, who allegedly harbored slain terror suspect, Amjad Farooqi.

Maulvi Muhammad Younas reportedly provided guarantee of Farooqi to property dealer Hafiz Nisar in hiring a house at Ghulam Haider Shah Colony. Farooqi was killed by security troops in the same house.

Hafiz Nisar told the law enforcement agencies that Maulvi Muhammad Yunas introduced Amjad Farooqi to him and on his personal guarantee, he arranged house for suspect.

Secret agencies raided a house of Qari Muhammad Yusnas, a teacher at Madras Dar-ul-Uloom, Nawabshah and shifted him to some unidentified destination.

Spree of arrests continuing following Farooqi killing

The law enforcement agencies have made more arrests from all the four provinces on the information of arrested accomplices of Amjad Farooqi, a top al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan who was killed in a shoot out on Sunday in Nawab Shah.

All the people picked up police are believed to be involved in terrorist activities. A huge quantity of arms has also been seized from their possession.

Sources from National Crisis Management Cell informed Online that majority of the suspect terrorists were captured from Sindh and NWFP on Tuesday. Militants in small number have been apprehended from Punjab and Balochistan. The arrests of remaining alleged terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda are expected within twenty-four hours.

Sources told that Farooqi was number one leader of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and was directly linked to Faraj and Hamza Rabia, who were involved in terrorist activities in and outside Pakistan.

It was also learnt that Farooqi was hiding in tribal areas for the last ten months and was sponsoring terror offensives there.

Farooqi was killed in gun battle the same day he returned from NWFP to Nawab Shah.

As per information provided by the detained accomplices of Farooqi, he was planning to kidnap very important personality of the country and he had also devised scheme to murder leading personalities through remote control plane.

Sources further told that the personalities who were playing key role in elimination of terrorism from the country were on the hit list of Farooqi.

Sources disclosed that the information rendered by accomplices of Farooqi were also shared with the provincial governments in the inter-provincial meeting held in interior ministry on Tuesday. Directives have been issued to concerned quarters to beef up security in the light of these information.