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| India-Pakistan |
| U.S. Says No News on Bin Laden Capture Claim |
| 2003-03-12 |
| The U.S. government said on Wednesday it had no information to substantiate an Iranian Radio report that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been captured in Pakistan. "We have no information to substantiate that claim," said a spokesman for the U.S. administration, whose view was echoed by two other U.S. officials and Pakistan's information minister. Iranian Radio, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corp., reported bin Laden was being held by Pakistani Inter-Intelligence Services and that U.S. troops were present. "There is nothing to substantiate this rumor," another U.S. official said of the report. The State Department also told Reuters it did not have any information to either confirm or deny the report. "We have not heard anything," a department spokeswoman said. State would be on my list as last to know anything Pakistan's Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat also discounted the report of bin Laden's reported capture. "This is absolutely unfounded and absolutely baseless," Hayat told Reuters. There's an lot of denying going on. The report of bin Laden's arrest follows the high-profile capture in Pakistan on March 1 of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Pakistan's intelligence agency said this week that Mohammed's arrest had resulted in information helping them close in on the al Qaeda leader. A senior Pakistani intelligence officer said Mohammed had told them he met bin Laden in December, a claim the official said had not yet been confirmed. Other reporting from the area suggest a massive search operation is going on with reports of hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaeda being rounded up. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #9 If he was captured, interesting that the Iranians were some of the first to find out, no? Buddies are the first to notice when buddies go missing. If he was captured, and this is being kept under wraps (a likelihood), then expect the news of his capture to be released at a politically convenient time, like the day before the Iraq war starts, or the same day it starts, to boost everyone's morale. If that happens, it'll be a good bet they captured him earlier. |
| Posted by: Ben 2003-03-13 00:43:16 |
| #8 A Hoffa style burial on a certain parcel in lower Manhattan? Years from now, there can be rumors of what became of him. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-03-12 22:23:55 |
| #7 I want agree with Scooter - too many stories flying around all of a sudden. It'll be exciting to see what unfolds in the next few weeks. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2003-03-12 16:39:08 |
| #6 I think he's already dead but if he isn't I hope that he dies very quietly. |
| Posted by: Canaveral Dan 2003-03-12 12:21:50 |
| #5 Capture the head and dump the body in Baghdad as a message. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-03-12 12:19:50 |
| #4 Scooter: it totally makes sense to try to keep it under wraps, not only to avoid alerting the other rats but because announcing OBL's capture would generate *immense* worldwide pressure to declare victory in the GWoT and go home. And we're a long, long way from being done, Osama or no Osama. |
| Posted by: jrosevear 2003-03-12 11:41:20 |
| #3 "Methinks they protest too much!" I think they may really have him. Too many denials, and it kinda makes sense not to publicize the capture so as not to alert other rats who they still want to catch. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2003-03-12 11:11:48 |
| #2 It'd make a better bookend for the desk in the Oval Office heh heh |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-12 10:29:48 |
| #1 Just capture his head. It'll make for a good photo op. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-12 09:55:37 |