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Bin Laden Heads Off on Horseback
Wednesday September 19, 2001
By Luke Harding in Islamabad

Supporters take allegiance oath as leader leaves

The Guardian
Osama bin Laden took an oath of allegiance from some 500 of his Arab supporters in Kabul before setting off towards a secret location in the mountains on horseback, reports in Pakistan said yesterday.

The Saudi dissident apparently made a farewell speech to his followers in the centre of the Afghan capital on Monday. "The fidayeen [militant supporters] were all Arabs, who vowed to fight to the last man," an Arab source was quoted as saying.

According to the source, Bin Laden said goodbye to his comrades-in-arms before disappearing with his bodyguards on horses.

"They left behind the vehicles and left on horses. He must have gone to some place which is not motorable," the source said.

The report appears to be the latest confirmation that Bin Laden has gone to ground in the face of an overwhelming US attack. Sources in Kandahar two days ago said that all of Bin Laden's Arab followers had left the city, together with his four wives and many children.

Bin Laden is known to have at least three bases in Afghanistan: a large Arab camp next to the airport north of Kandahar, where some 300 of his supporters live; a smaller base in the remote Oruzgan mountains; and a third camp in the eastern city of Jalalabad. The last camp is cut into a rockface and is supplied with an Islamic library and three uncomfortable beds.
(More: The Guardian News Source)

Dan