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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Two sons of Osama bin Laden were captured in southeastern Afghanistan in a joint operation involving Pakistani and U.S. forces, Pakistan's provincial home minister Sanaullah Zehri said, yet U.S. officials strongly disagreed with the report.

"They were arrested from Rabat area in Afghanistan," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. He did not identify the sons, but said that seven other al-Qaeda men were killed in the operation.

Arrested were Saad and Hamza bin Laden, two of what are believed to be 14 to 18 sons of Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Saad is believed closely tied to the operations of al-Qaeda.

In Washington, U.S. counterterrorism officials strongly disputed reports saying bin Laden's sons were captured. They said they had no information that would suggest any of the sons had been detained.

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Bin Laden's son moving up in al-Qaida ranks
Associated Press
July 30, 2002

WASHINGTON -- One of Osama bin Laden's eldest sons has emerged as a leader in al-Qaida, gaining enough prestige that U.S. counterterrorism officials consider him among their top two dozen targets remaining in the terrorist network.

U.S. authorities suspect Saad bin Laden, a Saudi who is about 22, of helping organize some of al-Qaida's operations during the last few months, providing the financial and logistical support necessary to set attacks in motion, an official told the Associated Press.

He is suspected of ties to al-Qaida's first successful operation after the Sept. 11 attacks -- the suicide bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia that left 19 dead, most of them German tourists.

Like his father, Saad bin Laden is believed to be in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. It is unclear if he is with Osama bin Laden, whose whereabouts and condition remain unknown.

Saad lived with his father in Sudan from 1991 to 1996, after bin Laden was stripped of his Saudi passport and forced to leave his home.

After bin Laden was expelled from Sudan in 1996 and ended up in Afghanistan, Saad was at his side when he gave an interview to the Independent, a British newspaper, and promised to continue working in Afghanistan to establish a true Islamic state.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday that even if Osama bin Laden is killed, lieutenants like his son will carry on and the terrorist network will remain a threat.

"There are three, four, five, six, seven people who could -- who know where the bank accounts are, who know the key players, the key planners and are perfectly capable of running that operation," he said. "Whether the son ends up being one of them, one never knows until . . . that takes place."

Another official attributed Saad's rising star to simple blood ties: When most of the world is hunting for him, Osama bin Laden can trust his children.

Saad's stature began increasing in the months after the United States went to war on al-Qaida in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, the counterterrorism official told AP.

It has accelerated even as the terrorist network decentralized its power structure. This move, under way since earlier this year, gives commanders in the field more authority to conduct operations without guidance from bin Laden's inner circle.

U.S. officials have no evidence that Saad bin Laden played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks. However, he is believed to be close to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, whom U.S. officials suspect of masterminding the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.

Mohammed, who is said to outrank Saad bin Laden in al-Qaida, has been linked to the Tunisia bombing, U.S. officials have said.

However, U.S. authorities have no evidence that Saad bin Laden is positioned to take over al-Qaida. Older, more experienced deputies like Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden's Egyptian doctor, are more capable of doing so, officials said. But terrorism experts say Osama bin Laden might be looking for a blood relative to carry on the fight.

Osama bin Laden, in his mid 40s, has at least 23 children by several wives.

"Some of them share his ideology," the counterterrorism official said. "(Saad) is definitely a believer."

At least two other sons have taken up their father's cause. Mohammed bin Laden, who is around 19, is one of his father's bodyguards, a U.S. official said.

Mohammed married the daughter of al-Qaida's Egyptian military chief, Mohammed Atef, in January 2001 in Kandahar. Osama bin Laden, Atef and al-Zawahri attended. Atef was killed by U.S. airstrikes in November.

Another son, Ahmed, is believed to be older than Saad and supports his father's activities.