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Time is running out for bin Laden, US military says
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-26 10:12
Time is running out for Osama bin Laden, the U.S. military said Wednesday, as
American and Pakistani forces step up operations against al Qaeda and Taliban
militants along the Afghan-Pakistan frontier.
In the latest statement of growing confidence that al Qaeda's mastermind and
other senior militant figures will be captured or killed soon, the U.S. military
in Afghanistan spoke of "renewed urgency" in hunting down key terror figures.
"If we knew where Osama bin Laden was we'd already have him," Lieutenant
Colonel Matt Beevers told reporters in Kabul, referring to recent reports that
the world's most wanted man had been located on Pakistan's side of the border.
But he added: "We feel that really the sands in this guy's hourglass ... are
running out."
Beevers said the same applied to two other wanted figures; the ousted
Taliban's supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and renegade warlord and former
Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
"We remain committed and reaffirmed in our effort to track these guys down
and get them."
U.S. WELCOMES PAKISTAN OPERATIONS
Beevers welcomed an operation by Pakistani forces in tribal areas that border
Afghanistan Tuesday during which 25 people were detained.
There were conflicting views on reports in Pakistan that Khaled al-Zawahri,
son of al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri, had been caught in the last two to
three days and taken to the U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan north of
Kabul.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan called the reports "wild
speculation," adding: "We have no information yet."
A Pakistani intelligence source said Wednesday all of those held were locals
apart from three women who had Kazakh passports. He said five detainees had been
released.
According to Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan,
foreign passports, weapons, ammunition and audio tapes had been found during the
raid.
"Clearly (U.S.-led) coalition forces support Pakistan army's efforts in the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas," Beevers said. "They continue to do an
outstanding job." He described cooperation between U.S. and Pakistan forces as
"outstanding."
The U.S. military has complained in the past that Pakistan has not done
enough to hunt militants in rugged frontier areas.
The raids in tribal areas follow revelations that the father of Pakistan's
atom bomb leaked nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, leaving
Islamabad keen to convince doubters of its commitment to the U.S.-led "war on
terror." Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is due in Kabul later this week.
HAMMER AND ANVIL
The two sides want to create a "hammer and anvil" effect by stopping
militants fleeing across the border in either direction.
Security analysts say that even with better cooperation and more resources
dedicated to catching top militants, the task remained a huge one.
Beevers said the deployment of civilian-military teams in volatile areas of
Afghanistan had helped in intelligence gathering as well as in improving
infrastructure.
He described the shift in U.S. tactics in recent months toward
counter-insurgency operations and away from major engagements with Taliban
fighters that flared up last year.
That, combined with efforts to rebuild the war-shattered country and
elections in June, will marginalize rebels waging a guerrilla war that has
claimed over 550 lives in seven months.
"It's a combination of all those (factors) that gives us a renewed sense of
urgency and some confidence (of catching bin Laden)," said Beevers. But he
added: "Nothing here is for certain.
"We're going to continue ... to present the leadership of al Qaeda, the
Taliban...with impossible situations that they are not going to be able to get
around, through, under or over."
U.S.-led forces toppled the hard-line Islamic Taliban after it refused to
hand over bin Laden, blamed for masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the
United States.
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