Posted on 08/27/2002 8:16:53 AM PDT by B-bone
Bin Laden Reportedly Back at Helm of al Qaeda Tue Aug 27,10:12 AM ET
By Michael Georgy
LONDON (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden ( news - web sites) is firmly back in command of al Qaeda and the group is digging in for guerrilla attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan ( news - web sites), an Arab journalist with close ties to the militant's associates said on Tuesday.
Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, said al Qaeda associates recently told him the network had regained confidence after facing intense U.S. bombing and was ready to fight U.S. troops over the long haul.
"Al Qaeda were shattered during the U.S. bombing so it was difficult for bin Laden to stay in control. Now they said he is fully in command again and they have regrouped and are organized again," Atwan told Reuters.
"Al Qaeda people say they are relaxed now and they will fight a war of attrition against U.S. soldiers," added Atwan, who interviewed bin Laden in 1996 and keeps in contact with his associates and followers.
Bin Laden was in good health and "safe" and was planning new attacks on the United States, he was told, but his whereabouts were not disclosed.
The United States launched strikes on Afghanistan last year to flush out al Qaeda and hunt down bin Laden, its prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and punish the Taliban regime that protected him.
But remnants of al Qaeda and their Taliban allies have continually frustrated the U.S.-led coalition by hiding in mountains, melting into the local population or fleeing into neighboring Pakistan or Iran.
Atwan said that the al Qaeda and Taliban had re-established links that were severed when the United States began its military campaign in Afghanistan.
"They are working together again. They are organizing," he said.
There is no trail, meanwhile, leading to bin Laden.
Bin Laden's associates told Atwan that the Saudi-born militant was well, "safe" and planning new attacks on the United States. They did not say where bin Laden was currently living.
"My sense is that he will time any new attack to coincide with a U.S. attack on Iraq. He would want to capitalize on this to appeal to the Arab street so he will probably delay any attacks until the United States moves on Iraq," said Atwan.
"He will probably want to be seen as the only Arab standing up to the United States when the United States attacks Iraq."
Bin Laden made a series of defiant videotapes broadcast on television as U.S. warplanes pounded Afghanistan. But he has recently stayed out of sight.
His associates said Bin Laden, who has a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, was well protected but his entourage was small in order to avoid capture, said Atwan.
"He is the master of disguise and he is making sure that he is not giving anything away so he travels in a small group," he said.
Bin Laden's top aide Ayman al-Zawahri, the Egyptian-born chief strategist of al Qaeda, was with him along with a small group of militant bodyguards, Atwan was told.
In that regard, sure. But I refuse to believe he's holed up in Pakistan or the hinterlands of Kashmir or Afghanistan.
Unless someone can show me otherwise, I've got to believe he's as dead as Jimmy Hoffa, and in just about as many pieces.
The guy is 6'7" tall and walks with a limp!
Welcome to FR. Since this is your second day (registered) you may not have been around long enough to realize that these Islamofascist slime LIE!
Besides this, what makes you believe that he's "on the loose"?
BTW, who's "rattling our sabers"? I believe the President (and many of us on FR) are DEADLY serious about eliminating Sadam. 'Saber Rattling' is what libs, Europeans, and Islamofascists do.
Osama bin Laden will now only give interviews on the Sci-Fi Channel show Crossing Over. All media outlets are alerted to send their questions in advance to John Edwards for consideration.
-PJ
Ummmm. Arent' you supposed to attrit the OTHER side?
That's what they mean.
Excellent!
Somebody mentioned having the negative as proof of authenticity, but even that doesn't do it. I could take a still of OBL from one of his videos, use Photoshop to put today's paper in his hands or near him, then print it out on a photo-quality printer and take a picture of it.
With the state of technology today, I will never again regard an apparent photograph as conclusive proof of ANYTHING.
My, how convenient. Sounds like newest ploy to keep us from attacking Iraq.
"He is the master of disguise and he is making sure that he is not giving anything away so he travels in a small group"
Intended meaning:
"True, no one has seen him in months, but that wouldn't be because he's dead or anything. Far from it! He's just traveling incognito to fool the infidels, and that's why no one has seen him."
Maybe the shopkeeper from that Monty Python skit ("It's not dead, it's just resting..." ) got a job as a PR man for Al Qaeda?
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