Pakistan May Have al-Qaida's No. 2 Man Surrounded

"Dav1936531" wrote in message
...
Place your bets. Will Ayman al-Zawahri be captured alive? Or will he die
the
death of a glorious jihadi martyr? I'll bet he dies....... the Pakistanis
hunting him probably have strict orders to kill him so he can't talk about
Pakistan's relations with both the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
Dave

Escape/never-there/fate-unknown

From: "John Keeney"


Escape/never-there/fate-unknown

Hmmm.....you may be correct. But....according to the information they're
getting from some prisoners already captured in the fight (which, of course,
could be all lies), al-Zawahri has been wounded.

If true, that should make escape somewhat more difficult.
Dave


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani forces believe they have cornered and
perhaps wounded Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, in a major battle
near the Afghan border, an area where many believe the world's most wanted
terrorist has been hiding, three senior Pakistani officials said Thursday.

Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said a ``high value'' target was
believed trapped in South Waziristan, a semiautonomous tribal belt that has
resisted outside intervention for centuries.

Hundreds of troops and paramilitary rangers pounded several fortress-like
mud-brick compounds with artillery and fired on them from helicopter gunships,
as entrenched suspects fought back hard. An intelligence official said
``dozens'' were killed Thursday.

At least 41 people - 15 soldiers and 26 suspected militants - were killed
earlier this week in fighting in the area.

The officials told The Associated Press that intelligence indicated the forces
had surrounded the Egyptian-born al-Zawahri in an operation that began Tuesday,
the first major break in the world's most intense manhunt in more than a year.

The region has long been considered the most likely hiding place for the top
two al-Qaida leaders - but there was no indication bin Laden was with
al-Zawahri. However, the two have traveled together in the past, and bin Laden
and al-Zawahri appeared jointly in video tapes released shortly after the Sept.
11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The United States has offered a $25 million reward for information leading to
al-Zawahri's capture. On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives doubled
the reward for bin Laden's capture to $50 million.

``We have been receiving intelligence and information from our agents who are
working in the tribal areas that al-Zawahri could be among the people hiding
there,'' a Pakistani military official said. ``All of our efforts are to
capture him.''

An intelligence official and a senior politician in Musharraf's government both
confirmed the account. All spoke on condition of anonymity.

The intelligence official said information was also coming from some of the 18
suspects captured during Thursday's operation. Some said during interrogation
that al-Zawahri was wounded in the raid, the official said. Officials said
helicopter gunships and artillery would continue attacking at dawn Friday.

Musharraf told CNN that he'd spoken with the commander of Pakistani troops in
the region. He said the commander reported ``fierce resistance'' from a group
of fighters entrenched in fortress-like buildings, and that there were
indications a senior figure was surrounded.

``He's reasonably sure there's a high-value target there,'' Musharraf said.
``They are not coming out in spite of the fact that we pounded them with
artillery.''

The news came the same day as Secretary of State Colin Powell announced in the
capital, Islamabad, that Washington was bestowing the status of ``major
non-NATO ally'' on Pakistan, and praised the country for its help in the war on
terror.

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice told CNN she could not confirm the
reports.

But, she said, if al-Zawahri were captured, ``it would be of course a major
step forward in the war on terrorism, because he's obviously an extremely
important figure. But I think we have to be careful not to assume that getting
one al-Qaida leader is going to break up the organization.''

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the Pakistanis ``believe there
is a high-value al-Qaida target possibly involved'' in the operation. He said
he had no information on who the target was. He said Bush was informed of the
search.

The 52-year-old former Egyptian surgeon is believed to be the brains behind the
terror network, with bin Laden serving more as spiritual leader and financial
backer.

Often seen by bin Laden's side in videos released to Arab television networks,
the doctor was also thought to serve as al-Qaida leader's personal physician.

Al-Zawahri's Egyptian Islamic Jihad was believed behind the assassination of
President Anwar Sadat during a Cairo military parade in 1981. He merged the
organization with al-Qaida in 1998.

Al-Zawahri has continued to spread his message since the Sept. 11 attacks in
audiotapes, the latest broadcast on Feb. 24, in which he taunted President Bush
and threatened more attacks on the United States. Another tape criticized
France's decision to ban Islamic headscarves in schools.

Under pressure from Washington, Pakistan has arrested more than 500 al-Qaida
suspects and has turned most over to the United States. The last major capture
was that of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the former al-Qaida No. 3, who was nabbed
on March 1, 2003, in a house near the capital and quickly delivered to U.S.
custody. He is being held at an undisclosed location.

The Pakistani military has been pursuing 100 tribal leaders whom authorities
want to roll into their efforts to hunt al-Qaida in the Waziristan frontier. So
far, about two-thirds have said they would provide information and turn over
any Islamic militants in their territories, American defense officials said.

The others face destruction of their homes by the Pakistani military, officials
said.

There have been several anti-terror sweeps in the tribal regions in recent
months, but none so bloody as the operation that began Tuesday. Pakistani
troops have moved 70,000 troops into the border region, and Musharraf on Monday
promised to rid the tribal areas of foreign terrorists.

U.S. officials say they are watching to see if the Pakistani actions send
militants back into Afghanistan, where U.S. troops operate freely. The U.S.
military on Sunday announced the start of a new operation to track down senior
al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives.

Two American soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in fighting
Thursday in central Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. At least five
attackers were killed in the battle.

The military said that because of the location, the fighting did not appear to
be directly related to the siege against al-Zawahri.

Afghan officials told AP they were closely monitoring the Pakistani operation.

``We are hopeful operations being carried out in border regions will yield some
desirable results,'' said Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Omar Samad. ``If a
well known figure is part of these captures ... the world will be a safer
place.''

Thursday's raid concentrated on three South Waziristan towns - Azam Warsak,
Shin Warsak and Kaloosha. Early morning calls from mosques warned residents to
leave the area, apparently to give the troops more room to operate.

Powell, who left the country hours before the news broke, also said he believed
there was evidence that bin Laden is hiding in the rugged border area.

``No one has seen him, so how can one be sure?'' Powell told Geo TV. ``But he
has certainly given evidence that he is alive and active. But we can't be sure.

``And if he is alive and active, and the evidence suggests that he is, and if
he is in the area of the Pakistan-Afghan border, that's a very difficult area
to find someone who doesn't want to be found.''

Associated Press reporters Katherine Pfleger Shrader in Washington, Munir Ahmad
in Islamabad and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

03/18/04 19:50 EST