|
Al-Qaeda Top 2 split up to hide
23/04/2006 20:10 - (SA)
Katherine Shrader
Washington - Osama bin Laden is hiding in a remote tribal area along Afghanistan's 2 413km border with Pakistan, separated from his top deputy, according to U.S. intelligence officials familiar with his pursuit.
His No s;2, Ayman al-Zawahri, is hiding in a more-settled area along the border, surrounded by al-Qaeda operatives of his Egyptian nationality, they say.
Their separation has opened a debate in national security circles in the United States and elsewhere about whether the leaders have split up.
Neither man mentions the other by name in public pronouncements, and both headed separate groups before joining forces in 1998.
Al-Zawahri has decided to take a more-prominent public role than has bin Laden, releasing dozens of written and recorded Internet messages.
These include a video this month urging Muslims to support Iraqi insurgents.
Strategic security decision
On Sunday, bin Laden was heard in his first new message in three months, purportedly saying the West was at war with Islam and calling on his followers to go to Sudan to fight a proposed United Nations force in Darfur.
US and Saudi officials, several of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the information's sensitive nature, say the al-Qaeda leaders have made a strategic security decision to hide in different places from one another. These officials do not yet see evidence of an ideological split.
"I don't think they have the luxury to have a rift," said Jamal Khashoggi, an adviser to the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal.
A former reporter and editor, Khashoggi interviewed and traveled with bin Laden at times between 1987 and 1995.
Bin Laden's at-large status has hounded the Bush administration. When people were asked in a recent CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll if bin Laden would be killed or captured in 2006, only 27% said yes, while 68% said no.
In a position paper released late last month, congressional Democrats pledged to "eliminate" bin Laden by doubling the number of special forces and adding more intelligence operatives.
It is unclear now where bin Laden and al-Zawahri are.
Some US officials believe they are hiding on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan, protected by tribes that warn when Pakistani forces may be approaching, several US counterterrorism officials said.
The Pakistani government does not believe that is true.
Interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said he had no information suggesting that the al-Qaeda leaders were in Pakistan.
Centuries-old routes
He and others believe bin Laden and al-Zawahri may be on the Afghan side of the border, perhaps in rugged, autonomous Kunar. No matter which side, the border gets little respect, particularly compared with deep-seated tribal and family loyalties.
Complicating the search, the mountainous region is full of centuries-old routes used for trade, smuggling and invasions that would be invaluable for evading capture.
|
News
