The Hindu : Pakistan, U.S. deny report

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

International

International

Pakistan, U.S. deny report

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, FEB. 28. Pakistan today denied the Iranian state radio radio that Osama bin Laden had been captured "some time ago" on its territory near Afghanistan, even as at least 11 persons were killed and six injured in the ongoing operations by Pakistan forces in search of Al-Qaeda fugitives.

The radio report spread like wild fire in official and journalistic circles.

However, it took some time for the authorities here to come out with a denial. The Pakistan Foreign Minister, Khurshid Ahmed Kasuri, was not prepared to either confirm or deny the news as he arrived to address a news conference along with the French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin.

Only towards the end of the press conference when officials told Mr. Kasuri that there was no truth in the report did the Minister call back reporters to explain the position. He said the operations in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan were part of Pakistan's commitment to fight terrorism and should be seen in that perspective.

Till evening there were only sketchy details of the incident in the tribal area in the Frontier province leading to 11 deaths. It appears they died when they were caught between Pakistani soldiers and unidentified gunmen who opened fire on an army checkpoint.

While the report of Osama's capture is considered purely speculative, an impression has been gaining ground in this part of the world that politics is being played on the issue of the capture of big-wigs of the Al-Queda.

The question on everyone's mind is: how come a superpower is unable to locate Osama or Mullah Omar even after two and a half years of military operations.

On the incident in the Waziristan tribal agency in the early hours of the day, an official statement issued later by a military spokesman said the casualties occurred when civilians were caught in the crossfire between soldiers and suspected terrorists outside Wana town of South Waziristan.

"In the early hours of Saturday morning, outside Wana two or three vehicles came towards the Frontier Corps (FC) checkpost and fired on the checkpost. The FC retaliated and in the crossfire there have been a few casualties of civilians who may be terrorists," it said.

Sridhar Krishnaswami reports from Washington:

A senior Pentagon official has denied a report that Osama bin Laden was captured "a long time ago" in the Pakistani border region with Afghanistan.

"I don't have any reason to think it's true," remarked the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Larry Di Ritta, who is now travelling with the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, in Afghanistan. One other agency report has quoted an unnamed American official denying today that Osama had been captured.

A spokesman for the American military in Afghanistan, Bryan Hilferty, has also been quoted as saying that he had no information to suggest that the leader of the Al-Qaeda had been caught.

"Things are going well and we believe we will eventually catch all the leaders of the Al-Qaeda, but I know nothing of that report," Col. Hilferty has said.

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