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<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden might be preparing to move from Pakistan to Afghanistan, according to sources with access to the latest U.S. intelligence.</p> <p>U.S. intelligence found signs of a network of al Qaeda couriers and safe houses on the Afghan side of the border, sources said. Such a network could be a sign bin Laden might be planning to flee Pakistan.</p>

For more than three years, grainy videos have offered the closest view American intelligence has had of Osama Bin Laden. But now operations underway along the Afghan-Pakistani border have sparked a series of unconfirmed reports claiming U.S. forces are getting close to the al Qaida leader. Most reports center on a rugged tribal region of northwest Pakistan, north of Quetta. A copyrighted story in the New Yorker claims the U.S. has been given permission to send search teams into the area. One British newspaper, quoting an unnamed source in Washington, even reported that bin Laden has been spotted and is...

There is growing world attention on the remote Pakistani tribal region of South Waziristan as efforts continue to locate Osama Bin Laden and other key al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects. However, so far no senior al-Qaeda or Taleban figure has been caught in this semi-autonomous area where the Pakistani army beefed up its presence after the US intervention in neighbouring Afghanistan in October, 2001. There are persistent reports that sympathetic Pashtun tribesmen in the area are providing fugitives with shelter and support. In the latest government move to pin them down, the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe was fined $95,000 under a local...

US and British special forces hunting Osama bin Laden have narrowed down the location of his hiding place along the Afghan-Pakistan border by identifying unique vegetation seen in his last propaganda video, according to intelligence sources. The mountain shrubs in the background of the tape grow only along a swathe of high-altitude territory stretching from Khost in eastern Afghanistan southwards to Angoorada in Waziristan. It would be the first time the world's most wanted man has been careless enough to offer his pursuers a clue to his whereabouts since he slipped away from encircling forces after a three-day battle at...

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Out in the wilds of Waziristan, the Pakistani Army has moved in force, bringing in thousands of troops to seal off roads in an area that may be Osama bin Laden's last stand. By all accounts, the massive operation has the makings of a protracted siege carried out among fiercely independent mountain villages along the Afghan border. Saturday, Pakistani troops fired on a minibus full of civilians at a checkpoint near Wana, killing 14. Pakistan's government offered compensation to victims' families Monday. But as difficult as this operation is on a military level, observers here say the...

Summary A renewed U.S. offensive in Afghanistan is possible when spring arrives. While spring 2005 would seem to be a more ideal time as far as political constraints are concerned, the U.S. Army continues to prepare for the possibility of such a mission this spring. However -- due to weather constraints and an ongoing troop rotation -- the ideal military conditions for a full-scale offensive in the Afghan-Pakistani hinterlands will not exist until late April at the earliest. Analysis As rumors of the impending capture of Osama bin Laden abound, rumors have surfaced that the United States is prepared to...

By Shama Faisal - Pakistan Times Special Correspondent ISLAMABAD: With top level international visits gripping Islamabad over the question of dubious proliferation issue, President Pervez Musharraf held a brain storming session with Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali at Army House in Rawalpindi Monday. It was longest ever meeting between the two, ever since Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali assumed office. The meeting lasted for about four hours during which issue of non-proliferation and Wana operation figured high. The one-on-one meeting also discussed the just concluded visit by French foreign minister and impending visit by British foreign secretary Jack Straw who...

The global press was filled with news Feb. 28 and 29 that the United States was preparing an offensive to capture Osama bin Laden. The source of the news is clearly inside the Bush administration, which obviously wants the world to know what is coming. In the latest twist, administration sources have said that Washington and Islamabad have cut a deal under which the United States will be permitted to send thousands of troops into Pakistan and will be provided with Pakistani intelligence assistance as to the location of bin Laden. In exchange, the United States will not make an...

SATIWAN, Afghanistan (AP) - In sight of Osama bin Laden's last known redoubt, and spitting distance from one of the least-tamed borders in the world, a group of young Afghan soldiers erected a lonely tent Monday - a humble outpost meant to discourage al-Qaida and Taliban fighters from slipping back and forth from Pakistan. The work is part of a U.S., Afghan, and Pakistani effort to cut off al-Qaida's mobility - and officials say they are hopeful it will produce results. Pakistani troops guided with U.S. satellite intercepts and local intelligence last week poured through the remote tribal region of...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States has struck a deal with Pakistan to allow U.S. 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 U.S. 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...

<p>WASHINGTON - The United States is rounding up and questioning the relatives of fugitive al-Qaida leaders to generate information on the possible whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his top deputies. This tactic helped lead to Saddam Hussein's capture.</p> <p>Some U.S. officials say they have been able to extract useful information from Afghan and Pakistani relatives and friends of al-Qaida fugitives, providing hints on the possible whereabouts of the organization's leaders.</p>

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has approved a plan to intensify the effort to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, senior administration and military officials say, as a combination of better intelligence, improving weather and a refocusing of resources away from Iraq has reinvigorated the hunt along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The plan will apply both new forces and new tactics to the task, said senior officials in Washington and Afghanistan who were interviewed in recent days. The group at the center of the effort is Task Force 121, the covert commando team of Special Operations forces and Central...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush has approved a plan to intensify the effort to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, The New York Times reports. The newspaper said on Saturday the plan would apply new forces and new tactics to the task of hunting down bin Laden, and take advantage of better intelligence and improving weather along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The main force in the new effort is Task Force 121, a covert commando team of Special Operations forces and CIA officers that was involved in the capture of ousted Iraqi President Saddam...

SAS joins fresh bid to snare bin Laden Jason Burke, chief reporter Sunday February 29, 2004 The Observer (UK) American and British forces have launched a dramatic new effort to capture or kill Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. SAS detachments will join thousands of US troops - including a 'super-secret' special forces unit transferred from Iraq - and contingents of Afghan soldiers in a huge sweep of mountainous border areas where the terrorists are believed to be hiding. The push will be the biggest such operation for 18 months. Attempts to find the fugitives last...

5 foreigners arrested in operation against al-Qaeda suspects Saturday February 28, 2004 (1245 PST) PESHAWAR: Five foreign nationals have been arrested by the secret agencies during an operation conducted against the al-Qaeda suspects in the thickly populated area of Katcha Garhi on Saturday. The foreigners who have been captured during the campaign include three Arab nationals and two Afghans. They have been shifted to unknown destinations and their names are being kept in secret. Sources informed Online that two of the five foreigners belong to Afghanistan and the remaining three are of Algeria origin. The officials of the secret agencies...

The United States is rounding up and questioning the relatives of fugitive al-Qaida leaders to generate information on the possible whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his top deputies. This tactic helped lead to Saddam Hussein's capture. On Saturday, Pentagon and Pakistani officials denied an Iranian state radio report that bin Laden had been captured "a long time ago" in Pakistan's border region with Afghanistan. But some U.S. officials do say they have been able to extract useful information from Afghan and Pakistani relatives and friends of al-Qaida fugitives, providing hints on the possible whereabouts of the organization's leaders. So...

<p>ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani forces moved into selected areas along their country's border with Afghanistan after satellite-telephone intercepts indicated al Qaeda members were hiding there, security officials said yesterday.</p> <p>There was no indication al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was involved in the conversations, but two intelligence officials said participants discussed a man referred to as "Sheik" — a code name for bin Laden.</p>

Bin Laden 'On The Run,' US Official Says Michael Kitchen Islamabad 28 Feb 2004, 15:13 UTC A top U.S. anti-terrorism official says al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is on the run,<./b> amid what officials say is an intensifying hunt for fugitive members of the terror network. The U.S. official says he believes Osama bin Laden will be captured soon. Ambassador J. Cofer Black, coordinator for the State Department counter-terrorism office, say the United States and its allies will find Osama bin Laden. "I feel confident that it will be sooner rather than later, although I'm not going to speculate on...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani forces have moved into targeted areas of the country's long border with Afghanistan , after satellite telephone intercepts indicated that some members of al-Qaida were hiding there, security officials told The Associated Press on Friday. Though officials insist there was no indication that Osama bin Laden was involved in the conversations, which took place last year, participants discussed a man called "Shaikh" — which is believed to be a code name for the al-Qaida leader. The operation was based in part on information gleaned from satellite telephone intercepts from the United States and local intelligence data, the security...

At Least 11 Killed in Shooting Near Afghan Border Where Anti-Terror Sweep Ongoing Feb, 28, 2004 By Ahsanullah Wazir / Associated Press Writer WANA, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani forces exchanged fire with gunmen in a minibus that failed to stop at a roadblock early Saturday, killing 11 people and injuring six, the army spokesman told The Associated Press. The shooting, in a tribal region that has been a focus of anti-terrorist operations, occurred hours after armed men and soldiers exchanged fire at a military compound in the area. Pakistani forces have been carrying out a sweep for terrorist suspects in...