Report: The US positioned near Afghan border hoping to capture Bin Laden
Regional-USA, Politics, 4/14/1999

The US daily New York Times said on Tuesday that US commandos forces are positioned near the Afghani border on the hope of arresting Osama Bin Laden.

The paper said "they (the USA) still do not know how to find him. They are depending on his protectors in Afghanistan to betray him -- a slim reed of hope for one of the biggest and most complicated international criminal investigations in American history."

The US officials told the Times that arresting Bin Laden may create a problem because it is still unable to find evidence that condemns Bin laden before the court under charges of planning the two explosions which targeted the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998. The New York Times said "According to the public record, none of the informants involved in the case have direct knowledge of bin Laden's involvement. For now, officials say, Federal prosecutors appear to be building a case that his violent words and ideas, broadcast from an Afghan cave, incited terrorist acts thousands of miles away."

The New York Times reported that US officials and Bin Laden business associates indicate that he "control only a fraction of the $250 million fortune that the American Government says he possesses."

The paper added that the US perceptions and the image they painted does not match reality , neither in Bin Laden's financial wealth or in his operations quoting CIA officials as saying that he is given more credit than he deserves for acts of violence. The officials said that Bin Laden plays an important inspirational role much more so than as an operational director of in bombing incidents attributed to him.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt examines Albania returnee accused of membership in Islamic Jihad group   (4/10/1999)
  Report: Bin Laden is in eastern Afghanistan   (3/22/1999)
  Sudan refutes US accusations over terrorism   (3/11/1999)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search