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Posted on 03/07/2003 5:13:13 AM PST by dep
QUETTA: A major operation was reported to have been conducted in Noshki near Chaghai in Balochistan on Thursday to apprehend the top al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden reportedly hiding there. According to Online News Agency nine alleged al-Qaeda suspects were reported to have been arrested in the raid. But there was no confirmation of this from any source.
Pakistan?s senior officials including ministers and presidential spokesman expressed their ignorance about the mission. Perhaps they were not told about the US forces raid in Pakistan?s territory near the border, as usual.
The agency quoted some officials as claiming that among the captured could be Osama bin Laden or his son. According to sources two US helicopters carrying American commandos landed near Noshki on Wednesday. They also said that a large number of Western correspondents rushed to the site. Reports said that Pakistani troops were also there and the whole day on Thursday a significant troops movement was seen in the area.
These sources said that US officials and Western correspondents were apparently very exited as if they have achieved a big success, meaning they have been able to make a 'big catch'. Sources suggested that the operation near Chaghai could be the follow-up of reports that arrested al-Qaeda suspect Khalid Shaikh Muhammad had told investigators about the whereabouts of Osama.
The detained suspect had reportedly told the investigators that Osama had met him in mountainous regions of frontier areas near Balochistan. Pakistani and US security personnel are also moving to Chaman, bordering city of Balochistan, in a bid to launch operation to apprehend more al-Qaeda activists, suspected of hiding there. Simultaneously, the US troops and Afghan military officials are moving towards Spin Boldak for the hunting operation.
The US planes and helicopters have been continuously flying over the entire tribal belt of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the vicinity. These choppers are also dropping pamphlets in Pushto; Persian and Arabic languages asking general public to assist the officials in hunting Osama bin Laden and get heavy cash reward.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed when contacted expressed ignorance about the Chaghai incident. "I don't have any information about this operation. I can't say anything," he told Online.
Presidential spokesman Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi said he had no knowledge about the incident. "No, nothing. I don't know," he told Online. Earlier, the Pakistani and US agents had narrowed the hunt for Osama to two districts along the Pakistani border with Afghanistan a senior security official said late on Thursday.
"There is a possibility that bin Laden could be hiding in Balochistan close to the Afghan border or in Chaghai," the official said on condition of anonymity. "These areas are being searched," he added.
"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 and added: "If the information is accurate, then he cannot hide for long."
White House Cautious
In Washington White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was cautious about the impact Shaikh Muhammad's capture on the 18-month hunt for bin Laden. "We don't know with precision exactly what the information we're getting will lead to. I would not want to exaggerate or over blow or overestimate anything. We are hopeful that it will lead to considerable information," he told reporters.
A Pakistani spokesman dismissed reports that bin Laden met Khalid in Pakistan in February. "This is totally incorrect. These are efforts by some people to undermine the achievements of our security agencies in the fight against terrorism," the spokesman told AFP.
The New York Times reported that Khalid had met bin Laden, the terror network's chief, in February possibly in Rawalpindi [GHQ?].
Earlier, a senior security official has also said that the report "is sheer conjecture." The official, who was part of the team that interrogated Khalid during his three days in captivity in Pakistan until he was flown to a US detention centre in Afghanistan, told AFP that there was no substance to the claims.
"That's pure conjecture and speculation. There is nothing in the material with us that would suggest that he met bin Laden in Rawalpindi or anywhere in Pakistan in February." The official said Khalid had only arrived in Rawalpindi a few hours before his capture in a dramatic pre-dawn swoop on Saturday by US and Pakistani intelligence commandoes.
The Pakistani intelligence official said Khalid had been in Balochistan in February, during which he narrowly escaped a raid on an Egyptian al-Qaeda suspect's hideout. Khalid revealed during interrogations that he had corresponded with bin Laden in February, via a round-about chain of messengers, the official said. Hand-written letters found with Khalid matched bin Laden's hand-writing, investigators said. Khalid also said bin Laden was alive and "in the region" but insisted he was unaware of his exact location.
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dep
I second the motion!
dep
Alan- Your proposal has merit however; we need to first pass the current motion then pass the amendment resolution. 8^)
Voting on the resolution to make The Score Card a permanent thread will be over by 3pm EST 3/7/03. *Bangs gavel*
dep
Are there any outstanding amendments on the floor or is there a motion for clothure of debate?
*Smacks head for not remembering Robert's Rules*
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