Hot on Osama's Trail [alive in Pakistan]

TIME ^ | March 4, 2003 | Tim McGirk and Rahimullah Yusufzai

[AntiGuv]

With Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in custody, U.S. and Pakistani officials say that Osama might not be far behind. Intercepted hand-written letters from bin Laden hint at his whereabouts.

U.S. and Pakistani intelligence services are reasonably hopeful that the arrest last Saturday of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al-Qaeda's military planner, may flush terrorist chief Osama bin Laden out of hiding. For the first time since bin Laden eluded a U.S.-backed siege of his Afghan mountain stronghold of Tora Bora in December 2001, his hunters have been able to establish that he is still alive and probably hiding "somewhere in northern Pakistan"— a notion Islamabad has long been reluctant to admit. As one Pakistani intelligence official in Peshawar said, "We think that bin Laden will break cover after Mohammed's capture, and when he does, we stand a good chance of catching him."

The breakthrough in the hunt for bin Laden came with the arrest of al-Qaeda's military strategist Mohammed in the northern Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. A Pakistani official said that Mohammed, the logistical mastermind of the September 11th terrorist attacks in the US, was in recent contact with bin Laden. Once Pakistani intelligence officers had pin-pointed Mohammed's hideout, a two-story house in a quiet and well-guarded neighborhood inhabited by retired Pakistani army officers, they held off in arresting him for eight hours and tailed him through the bustling streets of Rawalpindi in hopes that he might be visiting bin Laden. However, Mohammed never made the contact with bin Laden, and rather than risk having Mohammed slip away, police and army commandos burst into his Rawalpindi safe house and captured him.

The certainty that bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan grew after the Pakistani intelligence services recently intercepted several hand-written letters from the al-Qaeda chief. Pakistani intelligence sources say the contents of these letters have been shared with the CIA. These sources say that bin Laden might have disappeared into Pakistan's northern tribal territory, across the mountain border with Afghanistan, or he might be hiding in the capital Islamabad or 20 miles away in Rawalpindi -right under the nose of the Pakistani armed forces and the government.

A Pakistan intelligence source told TIME that bin Laden's four wives and over a dozen children were probably given shelter in Iran by the zealously anti-American Revolutionary Guards. This source also claimed that bin Laden's lieutenant and ideologue, Egyptian doctor Ayman al-Zawahiri, had left the region on "an unknown mission" but had returned to Pakistan and was now believed to be hiding with his terrorist chief.

The trail leading to al-Qaeda's number three, Mohammed, began in the southern border town of Quetta. On Feb 13th, Pakistani intelligence services, backed up by the CIA, raided an apartment in a working class neighborhood where Mohammad had been hiding. Mohammed had left, but his comrade provided police with clues that led to Mohammed's new hideout in Rawalpindi. Trackers also located several internet clubs in Quetta where Mohammed sent coded messages to his terrorist cells in the US, Europe and Asia. This source said: "Now that we've captured Mohammed, we hope we can decipher the codes he used and break apart his global terrorist network."

[2Jedismom]

I told my 7 year old that when they catch Osama, or report that he is dead, I will bake him a pumpkin pie! The other day he heard reports of the #2 guy getting caught and asked if that was good enough for a pumpkin pie!

[Bobby777]

as an aside, I don't think OBL is stupid enough to sit around in Tora Bora and await the inevitable U.S. attack that would come after 9/11 ... I'm not praising him ... I think it underestimates his mindset to think so ... but I think this is all a bunch of baloney that he "escaped" Tora Bora ... he was probably already in Pakistan, or Yemen or some air-conditioned Saudi palace ... that's my opinion anyway ...

with that said, it would be most gratifying to capture him ... or his dead carcass ... prepare the pigskins!

[Newbomb Turk]

If we could only get this Osama that would rattle their cages bigtime.

NOWHERE TO RUN, NOWHERE TO HIDE !

[Bobby777]

do what I do ... a Mrs. Smith's pumpkin pie, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar the last 5 minutes of baking (use the broiler to finish it off) ... after it cools nothing like Cool Whip to top it off! ... LOL ...

[A CA Guy]

I heard Osama escaped in fear, had a sex change and dances at a strip club as Boom Boom!
Soon it will just be Boom!

[Michael Sidiropoulos]

That should be good enough for a blueberry pie, a la mode.

[Wphile]

If we could only get this Osama that would rattle their cages bigtime.

According to another thread, we are hot on his trail! Capturing the #3 guy was a big boon and could well spell the end of Osama's earthly being.

[yooper]

They'll never find OBL, and for one reason. HE'S FRIGGIN' DEAD. HE IS AN EX-PARROT! THE ONLY REASON HE'S STILL ON HIS PERCH IS BECAUSE WE KEEP NAILING HIM THERE!

Saudi Arabians stun easily.....

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

I told my 7 year old that when they catch Osama, or report that he is dead, I will bake him a pumpkin pie! The other day he heard reports of the #2 guy getting caught and asked if that was good enough for a pumpkin pie!

Hey, if we catch bin Laden alive (or can irrefutably prove his death), I'll come to your house and bake the pie for you!

[2Jedismom]

Well, I make a mean pumpkin pie from scratch (well, I buy the crust...so sue me ;-D) and that's why he wants one so bad. He loves my pumpkin pie and it's a special occasion kinda thing.

(I actually follow the recipe on the Libby's can, I just heap the spices...a heaping teaspoon of this, a heaping fourth teaspoon of that. Just a spicy pie.)

The thing is, he has remembered this deal for what? 2 years now? I made the promise when we first went into Afghanistan!

[Cautor]

I doubt Osama is sleeping well these nights. All the moslem terrorist pigs would like to be seen as brave jihadists, but they're nothing but cowering women. It won't be long before we have them all.

[TBall]

I don't know he likes to stay in a ditch. Either way he's still going to pay and pay.

[CindyDawg]

Well, that must be worth at least slice of pumpkin pie at Lubys. :')

[GraniteStateConservative]

I used to think so, too, but it's been widely reported that the info from the recent raid suggests recent contact with him.

[Constantine XIII]

Q: What is Osama Bin Laden going to be for Halloween?

A: Dead

[CindyDawg]

Probably sitting in his condo on a Florida beach reading FR

[NewYorker]

but they're nothing but cowering women

HEY!

[Genesis defender]

[I]t would be most gratifying to capture him ... prepare the pigskins!

Sounds good to me. Who's up for some BBQ pork chops and a game of tackle football after they get him?

[Bobby777]

that's why we men use the frozen pies ... it's easy ... LOL ... I'm a pretty good cook but I cheat on dessert! ...