Saturday, March 20, 2004

The hunt for bin Laden by October

We've got him, but we don't know who he is

The military commander leading a five-day assault on armed militants holed up in mud fortresses said Saturday a "high-value" terror suspect remained inside, possibly wounded, but there was no way to know whether it was al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.

...Authorities are concentrating on a radio intercept in either Chechen or Uzbek that said a wounded man in a vehicle that tried unsuccessfully to flee the area would need "four men to carry him and 10 or 11 people to protect him," Hussain said.

That raised suspicions the man was someone important, needing bodyguards, and "most likely Chechen or Uzbek, as the intercepts were in those languages," Hussain said.
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution article

There sure are a lot of ifs, especially considering the plethora of reports coming out yesterday with headlines like these:

- Pakistan Believes Al Qaida's Number Two Man May Be Surrounded Near Border (Fox)
- Dollar lifted as US eyes capture of Al-Qaeda leader (Channel News Asia)
- European Stocks Rise on Report Bin Laden Aide Hunted (Bloomberg)
- Al-Qa'eda 'Mastermind' Trapped (Scotsman)

But, let me get patriotic....

Woo-hoo. Boys, we're about to git ourselves a big 'un.

That'll shut down them terrists. (And boost the dollar, too.)

Pakistan's army has arrested over 100 suspected militants after five days of intense battles near the Afghan border, but says it is unlikely al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri was among those still surrounded.

Instead a senior commander said on Saturday the "high-value target" whom the militants were thought to be protecting was probably an Uzbek or Chechen militant leader.
  Swiss Info article

Gee, you think that might be why the radio intercepts were in Chechen or Uzbek?

US has learned that a senior AQ leader speaking on the condition of anonymity from inside Saudi Arabia said that Bin Laden and Al-Zawhari are the safest they have been yet and warns Muslims not to be taken in by this psychological warfare.

The AQ leader went on to say that the two senior leaders of Al-Qaida moved in January and are not in the areas currently being targeted. He further said “we are laughing at recent claims that they (Americans and Pakistanis) have our Sheik cornered.”
  Jihad Unspun article

Shhh....it's not on NBC.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

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