Posted on 03/06/2003 1:16:24 PM PST by Straight Vermonter
New clue to Bin Laden hideout From correspondents in Islamabad March 07, 2003
PAKISTANI and US agents have stepped up the hunt for al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the south-west Pakistani province of Baluchistan and the country's far north, a senior security official has revealed.
"There is a possibility that bin Laden could be hiding in Baluchistan close to the Afghan border or in Chitral," the official said.
"These areas are being searched."
Chitral lies in rugged mountains hugging the Afghan border about 300km north-west of Islamabad in North West Frontier Province.
Investigators narrowed bin Laden's possible whereabouts to the two regions based on evidence recovered from al-Qaeda's alleged operations chief, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was captured in a pre-dawn swoop in Rawalpindi city on Saturday.
"I will not say that we are close to the man, but there are some very important pieces of information with us," the official said.
"If the information is accurate, then he cannot hide for long."
Both the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have agents in Pakistan assisting Pakistani security forces in sniffing out al-Qaeda fugitives.
More than 450 al-Qaeda suspects have been arrested in Pakistan in the joint US-Pakistani manhunt since the war on terrorism began 18 months ago.
Agence France-Presse
Hey, you won't get any disagreement from me on that.
Now we know for certain Bin Laden is not longer in Baluchistan. That "senior security official" needs to be shot.
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