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As the Trail Goes Cold, Speculation Heats Up
Friday, December 28, 2001
The Boston Globe

“These upper-elevation caves were where al Qaeda forces lived, hid and planned strategy, and they are the ones we need to search,” Zarwar Jan said.

TORA BORA, Afghanistan -- The Boston Globe
Under pressure from Pentagon war planners to hunt down Osama bin Laden, Afghan military commanders Thursday swept through al Qaeda ammunition dumps in the eastern Tora Bora mountains for evidence that bin Laden may have taken arms with him and fled the region.

The Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, Mohamad Habeel, added his voice to those who believe bin Laden is hiding with “friends” in an largely autonomous tribal region of Pakistan. “Bin Laden and his men are no longer here,” Habeel said. He would not reveal the source of his information.

Pentagon officials declined to comment on the report.

“We hear six, seven, eight, 10, 12 conflicting reports every day; I've stopped chasing them,” said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Pakistani tribal leaders dismissed the report as a “political gimmick.” They said it was designed to take the heat off Afghan officials for losing bin Laden's scent.

Interviews with several Afghan soldiers confirmed that the bin Laden trail had gone cold in eastern Afghanistan. The searches have provided no solid trace of bin Laden, let alone evidence he fled with heavy munitions.
(More: The Miami Herald News Source)
2001 © The Boston Globe.

Dan