| U.S., Pakistan denies Iran report of bin Laden's capture Haaretz
02/28/2004
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The United States and Pakistan on Saturday denied reports by Iran's official IRNA news agency on Saturday that al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has been been captured. The U.S. Department of Defense denied the Tehran Radio report that the bin Laden had been captured in a border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. A senior U.S. defense official denied the report, telling Reuters it was "another piece of stray voltage that's passing around out there." Pakistani Army spokesman Gen. Shaukat Sultan told The Associated Press "that information is wrong." A Pakistani military operation has been under way in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan and a Pakistani official said previously that members of al-Qaida are being sought there, although bin laden was not a specific target. Citing "knowledgeable sources," Tehran Radio reported that Osama bin Laden was captured, but the official Iranian media outlet did not specify when he was captured, and the report has yet to be confirmed elsewhere. It said that Bin Laden was apprehended "some time ago" in a tribal region along the border between the two countries, adding that U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visit to Pakistan on Thursday was related to capturing the al-Qaida leader. It also said that U.S. President George W. Bush "is intending to use it for propaganda maneuvering in the presidential election." The report was broadcast on the station's external broadcast, in the Pashtun language, which reaches Afghanistan and Pakistan. Homayoun Jarir, son-in-law of Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, said he could not confirm the report. Shamim Shahed, the bureau chief for "The Nation," an English-language newspaper in Peshawar, was cited by the director of IRNA's Pashtun radio service as the source of the bin Laden report. But Shahed denied in an AP interview ever telling the Iranian news service that bin Laden had been captured. "I never said this, but I have for the last year been saying that he is not far away. He is within their (the Americans) reach, and they can declare him arrested anytime," Shahed said. He gave no evidence to back up that claim. Washington says Bin Laden masterminded the September 11, 2001 suicide hijack attacks in the United States, which killed nearly 3,000 people. Also Saturday, an army spokesman said that Pakistani forces involved in ongoing anti-terrorism operations in a tribal region killed 11 people in an exchange of fire after a minibus failed to stop at a roadblock. The shooting occurred early Saturday, the morning after armed men and soldiers exchanged fire at a military compound in the region. Pakistani forces have been carrying out a sweep for terrorist suspects, and tension is high in the area. The minibus failed to stop at a roadblock in Zeri Noor, a village just outside of Wana, the main town in tribal South Waziristan, army spokesman Gen. Shaukat Sultan told AP. He said soldiers only shot at the bus after someone inside opened fire on them. "It was a terrorist act," he said. Allah Dad, a local resident, told AP that the bus was filled mostly with Afghan refugees on their way to the border. A taxi driving near the minibus was also hit, and the driver killed, Dad said. He said as many as 12 people were killed, and seven more injured in the incident. "They opened fire when the bus didn't stop," Dad said. "There is a lot of tension in the area and a lot of troops. The roads to Afghanistan have been sealed." Two local officials who spoke to the AP earlier on condition of anonymity did not mention an exchange of fire, saying it was not clear exactly what prompted the shooting. The deaths are sure to increase anger in the region. Tribal leaders deeply resent the presence of the army on their lands. Pakistani forces have been slowly increasing their presence under pressure from Washington to crack down on al-Qaida and Taliban suspects, who are believed sheltering in the region. In the operation Tuesday in Wana, troops arrested 25 suspected terrorists, none of whom have been identified. In Friday's raid, armed men tried to sneak into a military compound in Wana, sparking a shootout, Sultan said Saturday. There were no casualties and the spokesman said he had no details. "I can only say that there was an exchange of fire but there were no casualties," Sultan told The Associated Press. Wana is located about 300 kilometers (190 miles) west of the capital, Islamabad. Pakistan has not revealed the identity of the suspects captured in the counterterrorism operation in Wana, the fourth by the army to track down suspects since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Security officials caution they have no confirmed information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, but say the operations are geared toward locating him. They say Pakistani rapid reaction forces have been deployed to specific areas along the border with Afghanistan, a mountainous landscape that runs 3,300 kilometers (2,000 miles) from the Himalayas in Pakistan's northern territories to the desert of southwestern Baluchistan. The latest operation in Wana began on Tuesday, and although authorities said it had ended, fresh paramilitary troops rolled into the town late Friday, setting up new checkpoints and examining documents. Most of the 25 people arrested this week appeared to be tribesmen from a region whose inhabitants are linked by language and culture to Afghan Pashtuns, the ethnic group that was the Taliban's power base. Four of those arrested - a man and three women - appeared to be of Middle Eastern origin. Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a spokesman for the American military in Afghanistan, said Saturday he had no information on the identity of those arrested in the Pakistani operation, or if any of them had been taken to Bagram Air Base. Bagram is the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, where terrorism suspects are often detained and interrogated. The military refuses to give details of who is held there. Military officials say ordinary Afghans are providing better intelligence on Taliban and al-Qaida activities, pointing to frequent tips on the location of arms caches as proof. Asked if better intelligence was behind commanders' optimism that bin Laden and other top fugitives will be caught, Hilferty said only that there was an "overall sense of confidence that things are getting better." "The Taliban no longer exist as a real movement. I think al-Qaida in Afghanistan no longer exists as a threat, as a military threat. So it's mainly just a sense of optimism in the country as a whole." He said "typical operations" including patrols and searches were continuing across the south and east of Afghanistan, but declined to give details. Meanwhile, U.S. Coordinator for Counterterrorism Coffer Black was in the capital Islamabad for talks with Pakistani officials. He met Friday with Tariq Osman Hyder, a senior Foreign Ministry official, to discuss cooperation in the global campaign against terrorism, a ministry statement said. The U.S. Embassy confirmed Black's arrival but would give no details about his discussions.
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