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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan chiefs say bin Laden and Omar likely alive |
| 2002-05-16 |
| A provincial governor and a warlord from a part of eastern Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar were once believed to be hiding said on Thursday they thought the pair may still be alive. Well, we're pretty sure Mullah Omar is, unless he fell off his motorcycle. If Binny's still alive, he's probably on his last legs. Governor Taj Mohammad Wardak of Paktia province, scene of fierce U.S.-led fighting in March and bordering the mountainous Tora Bora area which was heavily bombed by U.S. planes, said he believed the al Qaeda leader and reclusive Taliban chief were in Pakistan. Wardak said as the noose tightened on the Taliban late last year, Mullah Omar fled to tribal areas of Pakistan's Baluchistan province while bin Laden made his way to eastern Afghanistan before escaping into Pakistan's Waziristan tribal area. "As I know it, bin Laden is in Waziristan and Mullah Omar is probably in the Quetta area," Wardak told Reuters in an interview in Paktia's capital Gardez. We guessed that... Pakistan's government says it is confident the pair are not hiding in its territory, saying it has not only sealed its borders but also engaged local tribal leaders to help ensure the two find no sanctuary in Pakistan. Oh, of course. Sure. Uhuh. Warlord Padshah Khan Zadran, who is involved in a bloody feud with Wardak over who controls Paktia Province, said he did not know exactly where bin Laden, chief suspect for September 11's suicide plane attacks on the United States, and Mullah Omar were. "But according to my knowledge they may be alive," he told Reuters in a separate interview at his isolated headquarters near Gardez. He also believed the pair were probably in Pakistani tribal areas but was not as specific as Wardak. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |