New Leads In Search For Osama Bin Laden

March 5, 2007

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Fresh leads in the hunt for al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden have led to the CIA deploying agents with paramilitary training in northwest Pakistan to track down the world’s most-wanted man.

The CIA is moving additional agents and equipment to a region of northwest Pakistan, where it is believed bin Laden is in hiding, US network ABC News reported.

“Reports that the trail has gone stone cold are not correct,” an unnamed official told ABC News online.

“We are very much increasing our efforts there,” he said.

Pakistani officials said they were aware of an increased CIA presence in Waziristan, a mountainous region in the country’s northwest that borders with Afghanistan, ABC reported on its blog The Blotter.

Afghanistan claims that Waziristan is a sanctuary for Taliban forces which provide crucial military support to the insurgency across the border.

Last September, Pakistan removed its troops from the area after sustained fighting and attempted to broker a peace deal with local tribal elders, a move which was criticised by NATO and the US.

US Director of National Intelligence Mick McConnell last week said current intelligence located bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri in Pakistan.

It was the first time a senior official had named the country as a possible hiding place for the terrorists, ABC News reported.

Late last week, The Blotter reported US and NATO forces led a two-day assault on a compound in eastern Afghanistan where bin Laden or another senior al-Qaeda member could be hiding.

Coalition forces launched an air and ground attack on a small enclave in the village of Mandaghel in Afghanistan’s Kunar province about 27km from the Pakistan border, it was reported.

Local witnesses said the attack was met with resistance from local militants and gunfire continued for several hours.

Bin Laden has been the world’s most sought-after terrorist since the September 11, 2001 plane attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York.

Bin Laden initially denied involvement the attacks, but later said he had directed the hijackers personally.

There have been sporadic reports of the terrorist leader’s death, though this has never been confirmed.

Source - The Australian

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