It is hard to imagine that the capture of Bin Laden would remain a secret for very long. However, I certainly hope that we would keep it a secret for a while. If we did catch Bin Laden, his inner circle, and data in his position, wouldn't we want to keep that a secret from the world as long as possible, so that we could roll up other members of Al-Qaeda and their fellow travellers? If you have Bin Laden's satellite phone, don't you want to keep it on in case somebody calls?

So it is more than possible that we would try to keep Bin Laden's a secret for a while -- a matter of days. It is, however, absurd to suggest that we would want to keep him under wraps for many months just to meet Karl Rove's political schedule. How ridiculous would Bush look once the press figured out that Bush was minipulating the news for political purposes? Rove is far too smart for that. The right move is to capture Bin Laden and keep it under wraps for as long as is necessary to harvest his secrets, and then humiliate him in front of the world.

"KARACHI, Feb 27: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal's acting president, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, has demanded to stop forthwith the ongoing operation in Wana, South
Waziristan.

Qazi Hussain Ahmad, who is also the chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, was talking to a group of journalists at Quaid-i-Azam International Airport on his arrival here from
Peshawar on Friday.

"People in the tribal areas are our loyal colleagues and defenders of the country. The government should restrain itself from playing the game of enemy, who want to
pit the army against tribal people," he said.

"The army is playing a dangerous game and should desist from playing in the hands of the enemy," he advised and said that the foreign elements in Wana were the
people, who were invited by the Pakistan government and western powers to wage struggle against Russian intervention in Afghanistan. "They are freedom loving
people who fought against Russian intervention," he added."

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/28/nat1.htm

"ISLAMABAD, Feb 27: The PML-Q vice-president, Syed Kabir Ali Wasti, has warned that if the country failed to accede to the demands of the international
community , the world will issue a time-bound ultimatum within which it will be asked to give up all its national assets, including Kashmir and nuclear programme.

In a press statement issued here on Friday, he condemned vehemently all those who are opposing the military dictatorship of Gen Musharraf and said the Army alone
can deliver the nation from its current crisis.

He feared that in case Gen Musharraf was removed from power, the country would face what he called its Waterloo. Mr Wasti, who is also chairman of the PML-Q
Media Committee, asked the opposition, not to politicise vital issues like military operation in tribal area, nuclear programme and bilateral talks with India. "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/28/nat3.htm

"SARGODHA, Feb 27: Chief of Tehrik-i-Insaaf MNA Imran Khan bitterly criticized the interference of foreign leaders in the internal affairs of the country and alleged
that Gen Pervez Musharraf and his cronies have been working on the instructions of their foreign master and put the integrity and solidarity of the country at stake.

He was speaking as chief guest here on Friday on the inaugural ceremony of a college. He said nuclear power ensured safety of Pakistan but the general has
compromised with the US and other anti-Islamic powers and rolled back the peaceful nuclear programme.

Mr Khan said America has forced Pakistan army to fight against our countrymen in North Waziristan on the false pretext of terrorism. He said Muslims, particularly
Pakistanis, were not terrorists. Fearing emerging superiority of the Muslims all over the world, the US has decided to crush them.

Mr Khan feared that the US might attack Pakistan in the name of 'war on terrorism'. He quoted Vana operation as an instance to strengthen his claim. He said after
destroying Afghanistan and Iraq, the US was stepping ahead to eliminate Iran and Pakistan.

He urged the people to realize the gravity of American involvement in the internal affairs of Pakistan and invited them to initiate jehad against the present rulers for
saving the country. "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/28/nat10.htm

"RAWALPINDI, Feb 27: Deputy Secretary-General of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Liaquat Baloch has expressed the fear that the army operation in tribal areas might
pave the way for American intervention in Pakistan.

He was speaking to a gathering of under-training Jamiat students here on Friday. Mr Baloch said first it was the Afghan policy that made the western borders insecure
and now an unnecessary operation in the tribal areas was set to pave the way for US intervention in Pakistan. The nation's morale is down due to the disgrace being
meted out to the benefactors of the country, he added.

The MMA leader said the Muslim Ummah was being targeted to destroy its emerging power and "our leaders instead of defending the rights of the Muslims were
cracking down on their own people on the dictates of the western countries". "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/28/nat9.htm

"ISLAMABAD, Feb 27: Air Marshal (retd) Nur Khan has cautioned the government against using the army to flush out elements allegedly involved in terrorist
activities along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

Talking to a group of journalists here on Friday he said this campaign would alienate the tribal areas population whose deprivation and destitution dates back to 200
years of British Raj.

"They are our people. It is wrong to bomb them or demolish their homes. They should be won over with love and socio-economic uplift," he maintained. We keep on
telling the West that terrorism could only be rooted out if we first root out the root causes of terrorism, but now when it's our turn to act we commit the same mistake
as the West, Nur Khan said."

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/28/nat11.htm

"NEW YORK, Feb 27: Four US senators representing the Democratic Party would attend a major fund-raising dinner organized by leaders of the Pakistani-American
community on Friday at a local hotel.

The lawmakers who have accepted the invitation of the Pakistani community leadership are: Senator Jon S. Corzine (New Jersey), Sen Charles Schumer (New
York), Sen Tom Harkins (Iowa), Sen Mark Pryor (Arkansas).

Since the Democrat party frontrunner in the presidential campaign, Senator John Kerry is poised to challenge incumbent President George Bush for the United States
presidency, Pakistani-Americans are making efforts to air their concerns to the Democrats about the impact the new American laws have had on their lives in the
aftermath of Sept 11, 2001.

Pakistanis living in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are expected to attend, and are expected to raise $50,000 for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee (DSCC). "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/28/nat12.htm

Looks like the forces who do not want to see Osama Bin Laden captured are lining up. It is inetersting to see iran's take on the matter. on the one hand, a Pakistani failure to cooperate hastens the need for access to Afghanistan other than using Pakistani airspace, and on the other hand, the capture of Bin Laden would allow the focus to shift to other members of the Axis of Evil.

The Hammer:



"

San Francisco Chronicle
February 26, 2004
by MUNIR AHMAD

Pakistan's recent operation to capture Taliban and al-Qaida
fugitives has forced some militants to flee across the border into
Afghanistan -- territory where U.S. troops operate, intelligence
officials told The Associated Press.

But the operation appears to have failed to yield any major terror
suspects so far, and U.S. and Pakistani officials cautioned they
are no closer to nabbing top fugitives -- including terror chief
Osama bin Laden.

"The goal was to force them to leave our areas -- or to capture
them," one senior Pakistani security official told AP. "We were
successful."

The three senior intelligence and government officials, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, gave no indication of what prompted
them to be so certain that al-Qaida suspects had fled the area,
and offered no specific intelligence to back up their claims.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who traveled to Afghanistan for talks with Afghan
leaders and U.S. commanders, demurred when asked whether there were signs of militants
crossing the border.

"Clearly, there's pressure being put on terrorists all over the world, but most recently and
certainly with a great deal of energy and some success in Pakistan, for which we're very
grateful," he said after talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.

U.S. intelligence officials in Washington have praised the stepped up Pakistani military
campaign along the border.

"Pakistan has been more active against al-Qaida infrastructure. Pakistani military operations
have contributed to the disruption of al-Qaida sanctuaries, particularly in South Waziristan,"
Vice Adm. Lowell E. Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told lawmakers this
week in prepared testimony to a Senate committee.

South Waziristan is another tribal border region in Pakistan.

Pakistani investigators have been questioning 25 suspects, including four foreigners, captured
in Tuesday's operation near Wana, about 190 miles west of the capital, Islamabad.

There was no indication that any senior al-Qaida leader was among the four -- three women
and one man. The remaining suspects appear to be local tribesmen.

Authorities using helicopters and artillery swept through the area after talking for days about
launching the operation if tribal authorities didn't hand over the suspects. Pakistan had set Feb.
20 as the deadline for tribal elders to hand over the militants -- or face the consequences.

The decision to announce the operation in advance suggested that officials did not plan to
surprise bin Laden; his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri; or other leaders thought to be hiding
in the rugged border area.

Earlier in the week, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno, told
reporters that Pakistan's new resolve in the tribal regions and a change in U.S.
counterinsurgency tactics would create a "hammer-and-anvil" effect to trap the militants
between U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the Pakistani army.

The security officials cautioned, however, that some fugitives might still be hiding in the
Pakistani areas bordering Afghanistan, where the inhabitants are linked by language and
culture to Afghan Pashtuns, the ethnic group that was the Taliban's power base.

"Some foreigners may still be hiding there," said Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the spokesman for the
Pakistani army. "We will eliminate them."

Rumsfeld, meanwhile, sought to play down speculation that bin Laden will likely be caught
soon, stopping short of earlier predictions by the American military that the chief suspect in the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will be detained before this year is out.

"It will happen when it happens, and I don't believe its closer or farther at any given moment,"
Rumsfeld said.

In Pakistan, sources stressed that while bin Laden has not been sighted in the country's tribal
regions, progress had been made in persuading leaders in the area to reconsider support for
Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives.

"We only know that al-Qaida men are losing support in our tribal areas because of better
interaction between the government and the tribal elders," a senior security official told The
Associated Press.

Pakistan has launched four operations in the tribal areas since the Sept. 11 attacks. But
Pakistani security officials say that earlier operations lacked the support of the local
population.

"The overwhelming majority of the tribesmen are patriots," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid
Ahmed said. "They are supporting us." "

http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=41511



Straits Times
FEB 26, 2004

The Al-Qaeda leaders are believed to have crossed the border
after raids by Pakistan's troops

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani troops, backed by helicopter gunships,
have moved into the border area with Afghanistan to hunt down
Al-Qaeda fighters.

The leader of the terror network, Osama bin Laden, and his top
aide, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, were reported to have returned to the
area.

'There are up to 20 people arrested and there are some foreigners
among them,' said army spokesman Shaukat Sultan on Tuesday.

He added that the operation was over and Pakistani forces
suffered no casualties.

An intelligence official told AFP that some family members of the
foreigners, including women and children, had been detained.

A son of Zawahiri's was among those captured, one of Pakistan's leading newspapers
reported yesterday.

The Urdu-language Jang daily said Khalid Al-Zawahiri was arrested during the operation
mounted in South Waziristan, a semi-autonomous area bordering Afghanistan.

The report, quoting diplomatic sources, said Khalid was handed over to US custody soon
after the arrest and flown out of Pakistan.

A statement issued by the Pakistani military did not mention the arrest but said troops
recovered 'weapons, ammunition and audio cassettes' during the search operation in the tribal
semi-autonomous South Waziristan region, some 300km south-west of Islamabad.

'In addition, certain documents, including passports, have been recovered from the houses
which confirm the presence of foreigners there,' it said.

The military operation on Tuesday was aimed at foreign militants, believed to be mainly
Uzbeks as well as some Chechens.

The Pakistani military said the operation was launched after the militants ignored a Feb 20
deadline to surrender and the government received a tip-off about their positions.

ABC News on Tuesday reported that Osama and Zawahiri had moved out of Pakistan and
were believed to have crossed the mountainous border back into Afghanistan.

Citing unnamed US officials, the television network said they believed the two Al-Qaeda
leaders had slipped across the border.

Zawahiri reportedly resurfaced on Tuesday in two taped messages at Arabic TV stations.

According to a Taleban statement released on Monday, Zawahiri was in Afghanistan where he
had been planning anti-American operations.

The Pakistani operation could be designed to make the border area less hospitable and force
the militants to flee into Afghanistan, where the United States leads an 11,000-strong military
force and can operate freely.

http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=41509





Stay tuned for The Anvil.

Osama Bin Laden's Hammer is the Pakistani army, and the Anvil is U.S. Special Forces over the border.

There is another Hammer and Anvil, however. Musharraf is caught between his own rock, and a hard place. The Hammer is the United States, which has been moving progressively closer to India -- Pakistan's mortal enemy -- since 9/11. Musharraf knows that if he doesn't play ball, we will get even closer to Delhi. His Anvil is the Pakistani street, which his own domestic Islamists will exploit against him. Tough man, in a tough spot.

http://tigerhawk.blogspot.com/2004_02_22_tigerhawk_archive.html#107768268995838911

And, this just in... terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden is still dead.

The intent of these reports "Capture This" appears to be to make a point that Bush would set on it, until the Election.
Sounds like Muslim Anti-Bush Propaganda to me.

The NYT should incorporate this into their November agenda.
Plan A: "what a failure; didn't find Bin Laden".
Plan B: "how long has he hidden Bin Laden for political gain?"

Tactical Map

Strategic Map

Terrain Overview

Current Pakistani military operations are based at Wana, centered on the Tactical Map.

Can anyone here seriously imagine American troops, capturing OBL, and then keeping their mouths shut for the political gain of the GOP? Give me a break!

"Speaking to AP in Tehran, the radio director identified one of the sources for the report as Shamim Shahed,
whom was identified as editor of the English-language Pakistani newspaper The Nation. Hossein said Shahed
told him Friday night that bin Laden was arrested "a long time ago."

But Shahed, who is The Nation's Peshawar bureau chief and not its editor, denied telling Iranian radio that bin
Laden had been captured.

"I never said this," Shahed said in a telephone interview with AP's Islamabad bureau. "But I have for the last
year been saying that he is not far away. He is within their (the Americans') reach, and they can declare him
arrested any time."

"I have been misquoted. On this matter, we never talked, the last two months. I'm angry, because they've
misquoted me," Shahed said in a separate interview with AP Radio.

Hossein said he had a second source for the report but declined to identify him other than as "a man with
close links to intelligence services and Afghan tribal leaders."

The report was carried by Iran radio's external Pashtun service, which is designed for listeners in Afghanistan
and Pakistan where the language is widely spoken.

Iran state radio's main news channel - the Farsi-language service for Iranian listeners - did not carry the bin
Laden report, nor did Iran state television.

The Iranian news agency IRNA was first to report the capture of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. IRNA
also carried the state radio report about bin Laden's capture and said it had contacted a radio announcer at
the Pashtun service who confirmed the news. "

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040228/D810BV100.html

"US troops hunt for Al Qaeda activists


ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: Hundreds of US-led coalition troops on Saturday launched an operation in Afghanistan's Khost province to hunt down Al Qaeda and
Taliban fugitives, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported.

Quoting witnesses AIB said about 35 military vehicles and tanks were seen moving towards the south-eastern part of the province close to the Pakistani border.

"The convoy has now reached around the areas of Tora Ghara, Toda Cheena and Mustalbar and has launched the search operation along the Pakistan-Afghan
border region," travellers crossing the border and heading for Miranshah told AIP.

Helicopters were also flying over the area that faces Pakistan's north Waziristan region in the east, they said.

According to AIP no Khost official was immediately available for comment on the new operation but US officials had indicated last week that a big mobilization of
coalition troops in Afghanistan was imminent to flush out militants suspected to be hiding in the mountain region. There had been rockets attacks in recent weeks from
the south-eastern part of the Khost aimed at US and government targets.

Khost had been one of the main strongholds of the Taliban regime in the years before they were toppled by a US-led military coalition in late 2001. Some 11,500 US
troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan to hunt down remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and members of the Al Qaeda network, mainly in the south and
southeast.-dpa "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/29/top16.htm

Map

Miram Shah, the Pakistani town to which the people making this report were headed after crossing the Afghan border, is ENE of center. Wana, Pakistani Headquarters for "Operation Hammer", is south center, and Tawda Cina, last reported position of "Operation Anvil" ("Toda Cheena" in the report) is at the headwaters of the blue feature immediately south of the "Z" in "Zadran" (Zurmat Zadran) at upper left center ( not shown on this map, visible only at higher zoom levels).

Overnight:

"11 killed as troops fire on pickups near Wana

By Ismail Khan


PESHAWAR, Feb 28: Eleven people were killed and six wounded on Saturday when troops opened fire on passenger pickups in the South Waziristan tribal region
mistaking them for militants, sources told Dawn.

They said the incident, which took place at around 8am near Wana, followed a late night mortar attack by suspected militants on an army brigade camp at Zeray
Noor. The attack began at 3am and a total of 15 mortars were fired at the camp intermittently. An army hawaldar, Khizar Hayat, was wounded in the attack, the
sources added.

Suspected militants also fired mortars on the Wana camp that houses offices of the agency's political agent, the sources said.

Officials said a team of army engineers was dispatched to defuse unexploded mortars near Shulam checkpost in the morning. At around 8am, a white colour
double-cabin Datsun pickup with four people, believed to be militants, fired Kalashnikov shots in the air after watching the army engineers defusing the mortars, the
sources said.

The army engineers immediately radioed the checkpost guards, asking them to intercept the vehicle.

The sources said army troops fired at the vehicle when it tried to speed through the checkpost but while the suspected militants managed to pass through safely a
passenger vehicle coming behind was caught in the fire. Seven passengers of the second pickup were killed on the spot, while six others, including two boys, were
wounded.

Four passengers travelling in another pickup coming from the opposite direction were also killed in the shooting. It was not immediately clear why the soldiers manning
the checkpost fired at the other vehicle.

Witnesses said all the passengers were unarmed civilians. Sixof the 11 dead were Afghan refugees living in Wana, official sources said.

Tribal elders told Dawn by phone from Wana, the agency's headquarters, that the incident had caused a strong resentment among the local people.

An ISPR spokesperson, however, said that two to three vehicles came towards a Frontier Corps checkpost and fired at the militia manning it.

"The FC retaliated and in the cross-fire there have been a few civilian casualties who may possibly be terrorists," the spokesperson said.

"The chances of some civilians having been killed cannot be ruled out," he said.

Sixteen people had been arrested and the political authorities had launched an investigation into the incident, the ISPR said in a statement issued from Islamabad.

Officials in Peshawar, however, denied that any inquiry had been ordered. "Political authorities have nothing to do with the incident," said an official.

The authorities in South Waziristan, the largest of the seven tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, have imposed an immediate ban on carrying of weapons in Wana to
pre-empt any trouble.

Agency's administrator Azam Khan said he had convened a jirga of tribal elders on Sunday where he would announce cash compensation for the victims. "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/29/top10.htm

and

"'Multiple threats' prompt red alert at airport

By Our Staff Reporter


KARACHI, Feb 28: A red alert was sounded at the Karachi airport on Saturday following reports about the presence of Osama bin Laden, chief of the Al Qaeda
network, in the boarder area of Wana, South Waziristan.

Well-placed sources said that the crisis control room at the airport had been re-opened immediately and security was beefed up considerably in view of any possible
backlash in the aftermath of the Wana operation. The crisis control room had been closed down following the end of Afghanistan war.

A senior official of the Airport Security Force (ASF) said: "We have intensified security at the Karachi airport in view of multiple threats." He, however, did not
explain nature of the 'multiple threats'.

He said: "There are three stages of alert - alert, high alert and red alert - and we have imposed a red alert." The security, he added, was intensified at airports on the
instructions of the federal government. All passes issued to civilians to enter the airport lounge were suspended immediately. Unnecessary protocols were also
abandoned and checking of passengers and their luggage increased.

Police and Rangers were also placed on a high alert.

The police flag-marched different roads in Karachi as a show of strength aimed at assuring people of the safety and security being ensured.

"It was also a message to criminal elements that the police are on alert and ready to foil their evil design, if any", a senior official said.

DIG Operations Tariq Jamil said: "We have already placed the force on a high alert in view of the Muharram processions and religious activities. However, due to the
'multiple threats', we have also provided guards to foreign missions, dignitaries and residences of consul generals."

Besides, he said, security around mosques, Imambargahs, churches, temples, religious seminaries and other worship places had also been intensified.

Police said that security at foreign restaurants and installations had been beefed up. The deployment at public places, government offices and buildings had been
increased to meet any untoward incident.

Sources in the law-enforcement agencies said that the decision to intensify security was taken following threats of terrorist attacks on public places, government
property, officials, as well as on the US and other foreign interests.

A senior official said that terrorist attack similar to one on June 14 near the US consulate might take place.

Meanwhile, leaves of police personnel have been cancelled and they have been asked to resume their duty at all costs.

Police would also use a helicopter for air-patrolling over the areas declared 'vulnerable' to a possible attack, the sources added. "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/29/nat8.htm

"NEW YORK, Feb 29: The United States has struck a deal with Pakistan to allow US troops to hunt for Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden this spring in an area of
Pakistan where he is believed to be operating, the New Yorker magazine reported on Sunday.

Thousands of US troops will be deployed in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan in return for Washington's support of President Pervez Musharraf's pardon of the
Pakistani scientist who this month admitted leaking nuclear arms secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh wrote in the issue that
goes on sale on Monday.

Full disclosure of Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan's activities would have exposed him as "the worst nuclear-arms proliferator in the world," an intelligence
official is quoted as saying.

"It's a quid pro quo," according to a former senior intelligence official. "We're going to get our troops inside Pakistan in return for not forcing Musharraf to deal with
Khan." Musharraf has also offered other help in the hunt for Osama, accused of masterminding the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, according to the
article.

"Musharraf told us, 'We've got guys inside. The people who provide fresh fruits and vegetables and herd the goats' for Osama and his Al Qaeda followers," the
intelligence official added.

The spring offensive could slow the tempo of US operations in Iraq, the magazine said. "It's going to be a full-court press," one Pentagon planner was quoted as
saying. The article added that some of the most highly skilled US Special Forces units would be shifted from Iraq to Pakistan.

Special Forces personnel have been briefed on their new assignments and in some cases have been given "warning orders" - the stage before being sent into combat,
according to a military adviser. -Reuters "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/03/01/top5.htm

"By Andrew Buncombe in
Washington

01 March 2004

President George Bush has ordered a
new offensive to capture or kill Osama
bin Laden, having apparently secured the
support of Pakistan to allow American
troops to operate inside its borders.

Reports yesterday said the anti-terrorism
special forces group that was involved in
the capture of Saddam Hussein, Task
Force 121, and the CIA will head the
operation this spring. Special forces
troops have already been moved from
Iraq to Afghanistan, where they have been briefed on the mission.

"We're trying to transplant some of the lessons of the Saddam
capture," an American official told The New York Times. "This is
different territory and our targets are presumed to be moving around.
But one lesson we learned in Iraq is that, by analogy, there are only a
limited number of places that someone like Saddam Hussein and Bin
Laden feel comfortable."

Officials suggested that a crucial development in the new operation
was the position of the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, who
has been extremely reluctant to allow US troops to base themselves
in Pakistan. Officials said that following the visit by the CIA's
director, George Tenet, to Pakistan last month, General Musharraf
appeared more committed to the capture of Bin Laden and the
Taliban's leader, Mullah Omar.

It may be that the US has reached a deal using the recent disclosure
over Pakistan's secret supply of nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and
North Korea as a bargaining chip. The New Yorker magazine
reported that Washington had struck a deal that would allow its
troops to operate inside Pakistan in exchange for its support of the
pardon General Musharraf gave to Abdul Qadeer Khan, the scientist
who last month admitted leaking the nuclear secrets"

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=496554

"WASHINGTON, Feb 29: Osama Bin Laden crossed into Pakistan on Feb 27 and is closely guarded by Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters disguised as a Pakistani
tribesman, US media reported on Sunday.

The reports said Bin Laden "is currently hiding" in a remote area in South Waziristan near the Afghan border. On Saturday, both US and Pakistani officials denied a
Teheran Radio report that the Al Qaeda leader was already in Pakistan's custody and would be brought to the United States close to the presidential elections
scheduled in November this year.

But when a Pentagon spokesperson was asked to comment on the reports that Bin Laden was seen in Waziristan and that US and Pakistani authorities had stepped
up their efforts to catch him, she said: "Yes, we have seen the reports."

Asked to confirm or deny the report, she repeated: "I told you, we have seen them." The reports said recent US military advances in southern Afghanistan forced Bin
Laden and his Taliban supporters to quit their hideouts in Afghanistan. The reports also said more than once US military search teams had come close to these
hideouts.

Such close encounters, the reports said, convinced Bin Laden and his protectors to seek refuge in the tribal areas of Pakistan and on Feb 27 they crossed into
southern Waziristan.

But the reports suggest that Bin Laden and his followers are not safe in Pakistan either because US and Pakistani forces have already marked the area where they
believe he is hiding. They are, however, reluctant to launch a full assault because of hundreds of Pukhtun fighters protecting the Al Qaeda leader.

Pakistan is particularly concerned that any offensive that leads to a large number of Pukhtun deaths could have very negative political consequences for the
government in Islamabad, the reports said. Instead of a direct assault, Pakistan has urged the Americans to isolate Bin Laden and his fighters by severing food and
water supplies. "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/03/01/top6.htm

"PESHAWAR, Feb 29: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has convened its two-day supreme council's meeting on March 5 and 6 to discuss the prevailing political
situation, including the pro-US policies of Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Speaking at the Jamaat-i-Islami training workshop at Nowshera Khurd on Sunday, MMA acting chairman Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that the ruling alliance was
pushing the country towards a civil war by launching operation against tribesmen in South Waziristan. He alleged that the Musharraf-Jamali duo had sold out the
country, in return for US dollars.

Mr Qazi said time had come to resist the government's pro-US policies with iron hands. The MMA had planned to free the country from the US yoke and its stooges
running the show in Pakistan, he added.

Qazi Hussain, who had facilitated the government on the legal framework order, had announced to launch an anti-Musharraf drive. Referring to the Wana military
operation, he observed that Gen Musharraf had brought in the armed forces against the people, which was harmful for the national unity.

He said earlier Gen Musharraf had used the armed forces against Jihadis in the name of his so-called war on terrorism. He declared that Gen Musharraf had become
a security risk for the country, because the general was working for the US-sponsored new world order in this part of the world. "We have warned the nation in the
past about the US designs against the countries in this region", he added.

Mr Qazi, who is also the chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, said the US was opposed to Pakistan's nuclear assets, which was the only deterrent left with the country. "The US
and its other western allies want to keep the Muslim world depending on them for food and security", he said.

He said that the US wanted to impose its political, cultural, technological and economic views on Pakistan, but the MMA would resist all such domineering claims.

"The US does not want that any Muslim country be an atomic power", he added. The JI chief told his party workers that the US was opposed to every country which
was against the US hegemony in the world. "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/03/01/nat3.htm

"March 1, 2004 3:30 PM

Pakistan denies approving Osama hunt

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has denied a report that it struck a deal
to allow U.S. troops to hunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin
Laden on its territory.

The latest issue of the New Yorker weekly said thousands of U.S. troops
would be deployed in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan in return
for Washington's support for Pakistan's pardon last month of Abdul Qadeer
Khan, a scientist who admitted leaking nuclear secrets to Iran,
Libya and North Korea.

"This report has no truth in it and there is no such deal," military spokesman
Major-General Shaukat Sultan said on Monday.

The New Yorker quoted a former senior intelligence official as saying it was
"a quid pro quo" deal with Pakistan's President Pervez
Musharraf. "We're going to get our troops inside Pakistan in return for not
forcing Musharraf to deal with Khan."

Sultan rejected this, saying: "There are no quid pro quos on issues of national
sovereignty. We totally deny it.""

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=4755692

"ISLAMABAD / PESHAWAR, March 1: Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan on Monday said a 'special operation' would be launched in Wana soon to net Al
Qaeda leaders and Taliban who are believed to be hiding there.

Talking to Dawn, the spokesman denied reports that 11,000 US troops were coming to conduct the operation along with Pakistani troops.

"It is a baseless news and if they come, they will remain on the other side of the border in Afghanistan and only Pakistani troops will take part in the 'special operation'
on our side," he added.

The government, he said, had already deployed about 70,000 army personnel in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area. "But it has been suggested that more troops
should be deployed there," he added.

(According to APP, a Pakistan military spokesman also refuted a news report appearing in an American newspaper about a deal between Pakistan and the United
States in connection with the capture of Osama bin Laden, Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations Maj- Gen Shaukat Sultan told a local TV network:
"The report of the US newspaper was absolutely baseless.")

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat said the scope of the operation in Wana was widening and getting intensified.

"Our forces are carrying out the operation on Pakistan side. We have secured our borders as far as it is possible. On the other side of the border, in Afghanistan, the
ISAF Coalition Forces and Afghanistan's own forces are engaged in their own operation," the minister said.

"We have told our coalition partners time and again to increase their strength on their side. Now the US government and coalition forces and even Nato have
expressed willingness to do so and they are increasing their forces there," he added.

Mr Hayat said it was pure speculation that Osama bin Laden was already under the custody of Pakistani troops or officials.

He said it was mere speculation to say that Osama is still present and hiding in the border areas of Pakistan or Afghanistan.

"According to intelligence report and our own assessment, it seems that Osama and his chief lieutenant may be present in this area. But this is not the final word," he
said.

Meanwhile, authorities in the South Waziristan tribal region on Monday imposed a penalty of Rs5.4 million on tribesmen for firing at government installations, and gave
them a week's time to pay up the fine.

"We have given the tribes seven days to pay the penalty," South Waziristan Agency administrator Mohammad Azam Khan told Dawn by phone from regional
headquarters in Wana.

This is the biggest penalty ever imposed on the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe since the creation of the SWA by the British in 1896. The fine has been imposed under
Collective and Territorial Responsibility clauses of the 1901 Frontier Crimes Regulation.

Already, the penalty has triggered concern among tribesmen, who say the government, instead of catching the culprits behind the attacks, was holding the entire tribe
to ransom.

"This is not fair," commented one tribal elder reached on phone in Wana. "The culprits are known to the authorities. They should be apprehended and brought to
justice. Why should the innocent be penalized and punished for a crime they have not committed?" he said.

Mr Azam Khan said the tribe had sought two days to discuss the matter and decide what to do. He said the tribal elders were most likely to ask for some reduction in
penalty.

Officials said the penalty had been imposed on the tribe for several rocket attacks and firing at an army camp and other government installations over the last two
months. This also includes Rs400,000 for the most recent missile attacks on a military checkpoint in Shulam.

The money could be collected by various means, including deduction in salaries of tribesmen working for the government, cut in government subsidy given to
tribesmen and individual contribution at tribe and sub-tribe level.

A senior official in Peshawar with knowledge of the tribal territory said the authorities could use the fine as a bargaining chip to encourage the tribe to speed up their
efforts in catching and turning over foreign militants.

Mr Azam Khan acknowledged this and said the Zalikhel Ahmadzai Wazir tribe was meeting in two days to choose their commander for the campaign against foreign
militants.

"Now the thrust would be on Al Qaeda. We are going to ask the tribe to go after foreign militants and turn them over," he said.

Zalikhel tribe, the biggest amongst the Ahmadzai Wazirs, has been relatively slow on their response to the government's campaign against militants.

Officials see the Zalikhels meeting later this week as a major achievement in the campaign against foreign militants.

"Until now other Ahmadzai tribes had been complying while the Zalikhels had been dragging their feet. Now we hope to be able to put enough pressure on the tribe to
get into action and show something," Mr Azam Khan said. Locals in Wana, however, said tension was mounting with every passing day with civilians being caught in
the crossfire.

"Is it not ironic that our tribe has been fined millions of rupees for attacks on government installations? And what do we get? Eleven people have lost their lives and all
their families could get in cash compensation is a mere Rs200,000 per dead person," commented a tribal journalist.

He was referring to the death in shooting of 11 passengers outside Wana on Saturday. Six others were wounded in the firing, which a military spokesman said was the
result of mistaken identity. One of the wounded died on Tuesday taking the death toll now to 12, government officials and residents in Wana said.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf has ordered an inquiry into the incident while NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has given the inquiry team 10 days to
complete and submit its report. "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/03/02/top2.htm

US seeks access to bases in Africa


DAKAR, Feb 29: A top US general said Al Qaeda cells, feeling the heat from the war on terror, may be seeking new havens in Africa, and Washington is talking to
African states to allow its troops fast access to troublespots.

"Although it is not prevalent, there have been indications that Al Qaeda is operating," General Charles Wald, Deputy Commander of US European Command
(EUCOM), told Reuters in an interview late on Saturday from Ghana's capital, Accra.

"The fact they've been there is an indicator that in the future and maybe now they intend to operate in the northern part of Africa - both the Sahel and the Maghreb -
as well as eastern Africa," he said.

EUCOM, which oversees US military operations in all of Africa except the Horn, hopes to secure agreements around the continent that will allow it fast access to
emerging threats without the need for permanent bases.

Wald has been meeting government and military leaders in a host of African countries, including Algeria, Nigeria, Angola and South Africa, to discuss intelligence
sharing, joint military exercises and access for US troops to local airstrips.

"There are some places that have been in the works for years where we already have agreements and have put some infrastructure in... We look at any place that
would have the potential to support a strategic airlift," Wald said.

General James L. Jones, EUCOM commander and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, for Nato has also been touring the continent. Washington sees Africa as
potentially fertile recruiting and training ground for terror networks because of its weak political institutions and poor policing of huge swathes of desert and long
stretches of coastline.

"They are going to look for a place where they can do the same thing they did in Afghanistan, Iraq or other places. They need a haven to train, equip, organise,
recruit," Wald said. Reuters "

http://www.dawn.com/2004/03/01/int1.htm

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