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."

[MHGinTN]

Catching KSM is worth pumpkin cookies. Bake 'um ... and let me know when the pie is in!

[Bobby777]

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

I'm down with that ...

[Bobby777]

if the scumbag was still alive we could feed him ham sandwiches served by pregnant women with their faces unveiled ... LOL ...

he's just a poor little rich boy with delusions of godhood IMHO ... we're in a toss-up of whether to play "It's a Small World" or "Pop Goes the Weasel" 24 hours per day until he flips out big time after we catch him ... we could make him listen to Andy Rooney drone on endlessly, but I think that's against the Geneva Convention ... 8)

[TADSLOS]

The FBI catches Usama completely by surprise.

[Bobby777]

Probably sitting in his condo on a Florida beach reading FR

somebody needs to make an OBL version of the famous Yasser Arafat "Dang, Jim Robinson banned me again!" picture ...

[XEHRpa]

THE ONLY REASON HE'S STILL ON HIS PERCH IS BECAUSE WE KEEP NAILING HIM THERE!

As many Freepers have postulated, this is the "Weekend at Binnies" scenario.

[DeepInEnemyTerritory]

We are coming Osama.......

Q Why are camels called the ships of the desert?

A Because they are filled with Arab semen

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Coop]

BTTT

[KnutCase]

For the WORLD'S BEST Pumpkin Pie......Use the Libby's, but add three eggs instead of the two that the recipe calls for, add 1/4 Cup Dark Karo Syrup....bake 1 Hour....then pour more Dark Karo Syrup on top and place under broiler for 3 to 5 minutes to put on a glaze. I guarantee you'll be the most popular Mom in your neighborhood. I'm asked to bring my pies to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners every year.

[2Jedismom]

I bought him a new Star Wars toy this evening...some deluxe battle droid. I'll tell him it's because we're celebrating this guy's capture. He'll remember it for the rest of his days!

[2Jedismom]

Oh my, that sounds like something I'd need to bake if they show Osama's head on a platter!

"Look! Osama's head on a platter! Anyone want a piece of pie??"

ROFLOL! The mental image cracks me up...but I can see us doing it!

[CindyDawg]

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

LOL. I'm right the opposite. I tend to nuke dinner but want my desserts homemade.

[Salvation]

Calling UBL!

[CindyDawg]

You know you could make a paper pumpkin and cut off a piece when one of them is captured. Leave the head though. When we get OBL, bake the pie. What do you think?

[2Jedismom]

That sounds like a great idea!

[2Jedismom]

Love your profile.

[FBD]

The one thing they didn't mention in this story:

They found Khalid's computer!

And there is lots of info... Right now, Khalid is undergoing:
24 hour sleep depravation, with bright lights in his cell.
Loud music, or some kind of noise, to help keep him awake.
Shots of truth serum to loosen his toungue. (sodium pentathol?)

And (I heard this from that Pakistani guy on Fox);
The Pakistanis will start pulling a few teeth, just to increase the pain.
This is the break we needed, and this guy is gonna talk!

[Sam Cree]

Hey! Pumpkin pie is my favorite (along with key lime and apple!). I am usually the one that makes them at Thanksgiving...from Libby's. I do make real whipped cream though.

OK, saving the above recipe, KnutCase, to Word.

[CindyDawg]

Thanks. I get some strange responses sometimes. I was telling a guy awhile back that I had thought about removing it but I put a lot of time into my profile, and it would be like destroying a work of art to me. lol.