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Osama not yet spotted, say US, Pakistan
"Nope. Nope. Ain't seen 'im. Came out February 2nd, saw his shadow, went back inside..."Osama bin Laden's whereabouts remain a mystery to US and Pakistani forces as they crank up efforts to flush out Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters hiding near Afghanistan's eastern frontier. US military officials in Kabul have boldly predicted his capture in 2004, and Britain's Sunday Express weekly reported that the world's most wanted man was "boxed in" by US and British special forces in the rugged Pakistani mountains along the Afghan border. The newspaper said Osama was within a 10 mile by 10 mile area, being monitored by a US spy satellite. "As far as the reports of Osama bin Laden's location, I don't take much credence in them because if we knew where he was in Afghanistan, we would go get him and if the Pakistanis knew where he was in Pakistan they would go get him," US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Bryan Hilferty said. "We continue to have rumours over the past two years," he told a news briefing in Kabul, when asked about speculation that Osama had been spotted. Pakistani officials dismissed the report that located Osama in mountains north of the Pakistani city of Quetta. "That area is in Pakistan but there is nothing there, life is absolutely normal - you can go and see," said Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan. "There is no operation being conducted there and there are no foreign troops there."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2004-02-25 |
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