rumbleph1$h Posted May 21, 2005 Share Posted May 21, 2005 Bin Laden on the run, says Pakistan Staff and agencies Friday May 20, 2005 Osama bin Laden is alive and on the run with a small band of fighters but his al-Qaida network has been paralysed by Pakistani forces, the country's foreign minister claimed today. Khursheed Kasuri declined to say whether Islamabad had specific information on the whereabouts of the world's most wanted fugitive, but said he had a vastly reduced capacity to strike. Bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, are believed to slip frequently between Afghanistan and Pakistan, eluding capture in the mountainous and often lawless border regions. Mr Kasuri told English-language newspaper The News that Pakistani security forces had "paralysed al-Qaida's communication network" in a series of recent operations. "Osama bin Laden is alive and moving around from place to place, but not with a large group of people." Pakistan's intelligence service captured Abu Farraj al-Libbi, reputed to be al-Qaida's third in command, on May 2. Mr Libbi - who remains in Pakistani custody - was wanted for allegedly masterminding two December 2003 assassination attempts against President Pervez Musharraf that left 17 people dead. Washington was convinced that Pakistan had landed a major blow against al-Qaida with his arrest, with George Bush calling him "a top general for bin Laden". US officials said that the arrest was the most significant since the 2003 capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al-Qaida's third in command at the time, also in Pakistan. Three days after his capture, Pakistani soldiers in Lahore, the capital of the eastern province of Punjab, in Peshawar, capital of the North-West Frontier Province, and in the Bajaur tribal area swooped on two dozen suspected al-Qaida fighters. Analysts said the success of the operations - based on information yielded by Mr Libbi's interrogation - justified Pakistan's assertion that it was winning the war against terrorism. "From the arrests it looks as if Pakistan has been quite successful in containing al-Qaida activity on its own soil," said Khalid Mahmud of the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad. Mr Libbi is known as a computer, electronics, and communications expert. When arrested he was said to be carrying satellite phones and a high frequency wireless, and reports said that he had been in contact with al-Qaida cells in the US and south-east Asia. http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,...1488856,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTUsEr Veteran Posted May 22, 2005 Veteran Share Posted May 22, 2005 Thought he was dead. hrmmm.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 Thought he was dead. hrmmm.... 585953805[/snapback] according to who? good news nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emo Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 bin laden's always been alive and on the run...what happened to saddam hussein? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 bin laden's always been alive and on the run...what happened to saddam hussein? 585956708[/snapback] hes hanging out in his tighty whities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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