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U.S. Intensifies Hunt for Osama
Tuesday, November 20, 2001
The News International, Pakistan

WASHINGTON
US special forces on the ground in Afghanistan intensified their manhunt for members of the al Qaeda network and their chief Osama bin Laden on Monday with the Pentagon saying they have no reason to believe he has fled the country. "We don't have reason to believe, or suspect that he is out of the country," said Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer added that the United States and Pakistan were working closely together to prevent suspected terrorist bin Laden from escaping Afghanistan. "The United States has been working very closely with Pakistan," said Fleischer.

"Pakistan has a very long border with Afghanistan and it's not always easy to monitor everything that goes back and forth but we are pleased with our cooperation with Pakistan." He also said the United States had no reason to believe bin Laden, wanted for the September 11 terrorist strikes on the United States, had escaped Afghanistan.

Numerous other top administration officials have said that US forces were closing in on their prey. Fleischer suggested, however, that the hunt for the world's most wanted man may last longer than some people expect and declined to put an estimate on how close US forces were to trapping him. "I am not going to estimate the precise mileage of where he is," Fleischer told journalists at the White House.
(More: Jang.com.PK News Source)
2001 © The News International, Pakistan.

Dan