Posted on 06/15/2010 5:42:02 AM PDT by markomalley
PESHAWAR, Pakistan An American businessman armed with a pistol, dagger and a sword has been arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of wanting to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden, police said Tuesday.
The 50-year-old from California was detained on Monday in what was apparently the first such case in Pakistan since the United States offered a bounty of 25 million dollars for the world's most-wanted man.
The suspect was arrested in the northern mountains of Chitral, once a rumoured hiding place of bin Laden, near Afghanistan's Nuristan province, said police officer Mumtaz Ahmad Khan.
Police identified him as Gary Brooks Faulkner. He was caught armed with a pistol, a dagger and a sword, carrying night-vision goggles, a night-vision camera and religious literature on Christianity, Khan said.
Police said the American -- who suffers from kidney problems and high blood pressure -- arrived as a tourist in the district of Chitral, checked into a hotel and was given the customary security escort, before he vanished.
"On Sunday night, our security guard noticed that Gary had disappeared. A search operation was launched and we found him 14 kilometres (nine miles) short of the Pakistan-Afghan border. He was trying to enter Nuristan," said Khan.
Nuristan is a stronghold of Taliban militants.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Boy, that’s optimism for you.
Thanks for the ping Swarthy Guy.
It was probably that Christian literature that got the poor guy arrested.
###
Stepping back in time...
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/chitral/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/nuristan/index
###
###
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1756003/posts
Afghanistan ‘holds Pakistani spy’(Escorted Bin Laden last year from Nuristan to Chitral)
BBC ^ | Dec 19 2006 | Not given
Posted on December 19, 2006 4:50:22 PM PST by Dog
###
###
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2208074/posts
“...How we Know AQ#1 Surfs the Internet & What this tells us about his location”
THE JAWA REPORT ^ | March 15, 2009 | Rusty
Posted on March 16, 2009 10:31:18 PM PDT by Cindy
BTW this man was sniffing around the right area if you ask me.
It’s a shame this swashbuckling gentleman didn’t succeed. Can you imagine the news afterwards?
American Christian militant assassin murders Osama Bin Laden in cold blood. Pakistani forces arrest militant Christian assassin and are holding him for trial.
American President obama calls for his immediate execution to send a message to Christian Terrorists.
I’d like to know what sort of sword he carried. It would be a nice touch if it were a 12th century (or so) arming sword. Something like a crusader might have carried.
At 40”... that might be the case, though it also might be one of those dang ubiquitous katanas. [sigh]. Just not period-correct. :-)
Chitral — —An American national Gary Brooks Faulkner was arrested from the Bumburet Kalash valley of Chitral, reportedly trying to cross over into Nuristan province of Afghanistan which borders the area. The suspect was reportedly armed with a pistol a dagger and a scimitar and he was repeatedly expressing his intentions of crossing into Afghanistan and fighting the Taliban and Osama. The arrested person had visited Pakistan on seven occasions earlier. (Muhkamuddin, 15 June 10)
And there was a letter:
US national arrested in Chitral -letter
The way the subject news has been splashed across the global media in a flash, seems to be a sinister plan from somewhere to antagonise the local population against Christians, as some western papers have reported the gentleman was carrying biblical verses on him when caught. I hope Chitralis will take the whole story with a pinch of salt and dismiss such sensationalism to continue with their peaceful tranquil and tolerant way of life.
Muhammad Arif,
Chitral,
15 June 10.
http://www.chitralnews.com/News-15-6-10.htm
I’ve been going around all day to my bosses reassuring them that this was not me and that I am still in the country.
Sheesh, one nut case gets caught hunting bin Laden in the badlands of Pakistan and it makes all us gun and sword totin mainiacs look bad.
But, as has been pointed out before, according to his story this was his THIRD trip to the area. Musta had something going right for him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.