Posted on 05/15/2006 10:35:21 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Mystery Americans on the trail of bin Laden?
By Carlotta Gall The New York Times
MONDAY, MAY 15, 2006
CHITRAL, Pakistan This quiet mountain resort, better known for its polo games and mountain treks, has become the latest site of interest in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, much to the outrage and bemusement of its inhabitants.
Chitral is the remotest northwestern territory in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, stretching along the Afghan border to the high mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush and the Pamirs, following the Wakhan Corridor, the long finger of Afghanistan that reaches to the Chinese border.
The territory is home to rare falcons and the snow leopard and is cut off by snow from the rest of the country for six months of the year.
It is here, in the largest town, also called Chitral, that four Americans from the U.S. Embassy rented a house last autumn, apparently preparing for a long stay, according to Siraj ul-Mulk, a member of the traditional ruling family here and the owner of the Hindu Kush Heights Hotel overlooking the valley where the four stayed.
But the house remained unoccupied until two weeks ago, when an American arrived with two carloads of furniture and equipment, provoking a local politician to object in Parliament and lead a street protest against the presence of what he termed an American "secret agency."
The American left three days before the demonstration took place, police officials said.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
He sounds like some FReeper here.:)
Ping!
Ping.
Do you know how close this is to Waziristan?
There was this little snippet in the press last week:
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=142935
I hope these guys took shovels. Going to need them to find Osama the dead man.
OPINION: It seems to be an active area.
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=Waziristan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=NorthWaziristan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=SouthWaziristan
Wazistran is between Quetta and Zhob, I believe...
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Chiltral District:
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Fascinating old maps here:
Hey that's neat.
Thanks for the map and the links Ernest.
Map freak! I love it!
Once again, I wonder why they publish stuff like this, telling the world what we're doing.
With a $25 million (or is it $50 million?) reward for Bin Laden, I'm surprised the place isn't crawling with bounty hunters.
He made clear that he has nothing against Americans, just these Americans. "They have no place coming to Chitral, nor would we allow them to stay there,"
now what'dya think they would say if we started saying things
like that about Paks coming to ,and staying in America?
hmmmm...not a bad idea!
Duh! It's the New York Times! ;^)
Ditto.
stepping back in time...
Thanks to CallMeJoe for this additional link:
---
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=855866&page=1&WNT=true
"New Clues Show Al Qaeda's Trail in Pakistan
Shopkeepers in Market Town Describe Foreigners Buying Supplies, Driving Back Toward Afghan Border"
By BRIAN ROSS
"Video obtained from the Pakistani Army showed a secret al Qaeda hideaway in Pakistan that contained a huge cache of weapons, radios and sophisticated electronic equipment, including video editing machines. (ABC News)"
June 16, 2005 —
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The search for Osama bin Laden has shifted hundreds of miles north, but Pakistani and U.S. officials tell ABC News it remains centered in an area around the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where the al Qaeda leader and his deputies seem to be able to move freely.
Some of the new clues in the search come from a small Pakistani market town in the tribal region of Chitral."
ARTICLE SNIPPET #2: "Debat says shopkeepers told him that "a group of Arabs came down from the mountains in a jeep and loaded bags of rice and flour and drove back up the mountain back to Afghanistan.""
ARTICLE SNIPPET #3: "The Pakistani Army now says it came very close to Zawahri last year when it raided another house, in South Waziristan, which they say turned out to be a hidden al Qaeda command center.
Buried underground was a huge cache of weapons, radios and sophisticated electronic equipment, including video editing machines."
bump
ON THE NET...
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/wanted_captured/index.cfm?page=Wanted_Terrorist
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/wanted_captured/index.cfm?page=Bin_Laden
"Wanted
Usama Bin Laden
Up to $25 Million Reward"
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