Posted on 11/18/2001 3:42:25 AM PST by JohnHuang2
LONDON, Nov. 18 (AFP) - the British and American special forces encircled Oussama Ben Laden in a zone of some 80 km2 in the south-east of Afghanistan and are only "à a few hours "of him, according to Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph which quote sources of the ministry for Defense.
"very interesting" information which was collected could lead to the arrest of Ben Laden "in the days to come", according to a source placed high of the ministry for the Defense quoted by Sunday Telegraph.
Commandos were conveyed by helicopter in this zone close to Kandahar, the stronghold of the talibans, to prevent Ben Laden from taking refuge in Pakistan, according to Sunday Times which also quotes sources of the ministry.
According to these sources, the supposed terrorist of origin saoudienne would be "static" some share in the south-east of Kandahar. "For a series of reasons, we are persuaded that it could not go far", affirmed a person in charge for the ministry quoted by Sunday Times.
Oussama Ben Laden is always in Afghanistan, in the province of Kandahar (southern), affirmed Sunday with the AFP Younis Qanooni, one of the persons in charge for the Alliance of north.
"According to my information, Ben Laden is still with Maruf", locality located at approximately 130 kilometers in the east of the town of Kandahar, said the Minister of Interior Department of Alliance.
"the plan always was to reduce the space of Ben Laden", declared the minister British in Defense, Geoff Hoon. "the space in which it operates now is very limited", it added quoted by Sunday Times.
"It always moved but its capacity to do it is reduced more and more", estimated Mr. Hoon quoted by Sunday Telegraph.
"My feeling is that that is to say we will obtain information which enables us to find it, or more probably, with the collapse of the talibans in the south, somebody will give it, perhaps a local head who knows where it is", continued the minister.
Saturday evening, the representative of the talibans in Pakistan contradicted information indicating that Ben Laden had left Afghanistan with his wives and his children. Oussama Ben Laden "is in Afghanistan but I do not know if it is on our territory or in the zone controlled by the Alliance of North", declared Saleem Zaeef.
I have that feeling as well.
Bump!
I don't think he would last long in those circumstances and if a Muslim force took his miserable life they would have a hard time martyring him.
And I get the feeling we are close to nabbing him.
I wonder why he thought he could murder 5000+ Americans and get away with it. What gave him the misguided idea that he could take on the most powerful, the most determined, the grittiest country in the world? Some people think we are soft because we are so free, so open, and so generous.
How wrong they are.
Mr Delusional thought he was going to touch off WWIII.
How about Thanksgiving. Wouldn't that give us something special to be thankful about.
dimanche 18 novembre 2001 - 12h36 GMT
LONDRES, 18 nov (AFP) - Les forces spéciales britanniques et américaines ont cerné Oussama ben Laden dans une zone de quelque 80 km2 dans le sud-est de l'Afghanistan et ne sont qu'"à quelques heures" de lui, selon le Sunday Times et le Sunday Telegraph qui citent des sources du ministère de la Défense.
Des informations "très intéressantes" qui ont été recueillies pourraient mener à l'arrestation de ben Laden "dans les jours à venir", selon une source haut placée du ministère de la Défense citée par le Sunday Telegraph.
Des commandos ont été acheminés par hélicoptère dans cette zone proche de Kandahar, le fief des talibans, pour empêcher ben Laden de se réfugier au Pakistan, selon le Sunday Times qui cite également des sources du ministère.
Selon ces sources, le terroriste présumé d'origine saoudienne serait "statique" quelque part au sud-est de Kandahar. "Pour une série de raisons, nous sommes persuadés qu'il n'a pas pu aller loin", a affirmé un responsable du ministère cité par le Sunday Times.
Oussama ben Laden se trouve toujours en Afghanistan, dans la province de Kandahar (sud), a affirmé dimanche à l'AFP Younis Qanooni, l'un des responsables de l'Alliance du nord.
"Selon mes informations, ben Laden est encore à Maruf", localité située à environ 130 kilomètres à l'est de la ville de Kandahar, a dit le ministre de l'Intérieur de l'Alliance.
"Le plan a toujours été de réduire l'espace de ben Laden", a déclaré le ministre britannique à la Défense, Geoff Hoon. "L'espace dans lequel il opère est maintenant très limité", a-t-il ajouté cité par le Sunday Times.
"Il a toujours bougé mais sa capacité à le faire est de plus en plus réduite", a estimé M. Hoon cité par le Sunday Telegraph.
"Mon sentiment est que soit nous obtiendrons des informations qui nous permettent de le trouver, ou plus vraisemblablement, avec l'effondrement des talibans dans le sud, quelqu'un le donnera, peut-être un chef local qui sait où il se trouve", a poursuivi le ministre.
Samedi soir, le représentant des talibans au Pakistan a démenti des informations indiquant que ben Laden avait quitté l'Afghanistan avec ses femmes et ses enfants.
Oussama ben Laden "est en Afghanistan mais je ne sais pas s'il est sur notre territoire ou dans la zone contrôlée par l'Alliance du Nord", a déclaré Saleem Zaeef.
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