The Hindu : Osama captured long ago, says Iran radio

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 29, 2004

International

International

Osama captured long ago, says Iran radio

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, FEB. 28. Iran's State radio today claimed that Osama bin Laden had been captured long ago but the release of the news would be timed to benefit the United States President, George Bush, who is seeking a second term in this year's elections.

The radio's external service, broadcast in Pushtun, said the U.S. Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld's visit to Pakistan on Thursday was related to the capture of Osama, the wealthy Saudi fugitive who is known to head the Al-Qaeda terror network.

Pakistani authorities reportedly apprehended 25 "suspected terrorists" in a well-publicised operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Tuesday. Pakistan has declined to disclose the identities, but four of them are said to be of West Asian origin. The U.S. Coordinator for Counter- terrorism, Coffer Black, also visited Islamabad for talks with Pakistani officials this week.

According to the radio, "the capture of the Al-Qaeda leader has been made some time before, but Bush is intending to announce it when the American presidential election is held." Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said Osama's capture was meant to boost "Bush's Presidential chances, which are increasingly being eclipsed by the Democratic Presidential front-runner John Kerry."

IRNA claimed that the Iranian State radio had got its information from a "very reliable source," in Peshawar in Pakistan. Both Pakistan and the U.S. Defence Department have denied the Iranian claim.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press said it had contacted Asheq Hossein, head of the Pushtun service of Iran Radio, to ascertain the claim of Osama's arrest. It quoted Mr. Hossein as saying that the information about the Saudi fugitive's capture had been received from two separate sources. One was Shamim Shahed, Peshawar Bureau chief of the English-language Pakistani newspaper The Nation. Mr. Hossein said Mr. Shahed had told him on Friday night that Osama was arrested "a long time ago.''

But Mr. Shahed has reportedly denied having said that the Al-Qaeda chief had been captured. He pointed out that the U.S. had Osama within its grasp. Mr. Shahed was quoted as saying that, "He is within their (the Americans') reach, and they can declare him arrested any time.''

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