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U.S. Hasn't Seen bin Laden Since December
Friday, April 26, 2002
(7:37 AM)
The Associated Press

Before speaking to the troops, Rumsfeld took a quick tour of the U.S. and allied troop buildup at Manas airport, which has become new foothold for American and allied airpower in the war on terrorism.
[ ... ]
Of the 2,000 coalition troops stationed here, about half are American.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- AP
The search for Osama bin Laden has found neither "hide nor hair" of America's No. 1 terrorist target since December, but the fight to rid Afghanistan of his al-Qaida network will continue for months, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday.

In a question-and-answer session with a group of about 400 U.S. and allied troops, one airman posed the kind of blunt question Rumsfeld rarely hears in Washington. "When we get our hands on Mr. bin Laden, are we going to negotiate with him or annihilate him?" the airman asked.

Grinning amid hoots and hollers from his audience, Rumsfeld replied, "In truth, it's kind of his choice."

Rumsfeld, who flew to Bishkek's main airport, Manas, from Washington to begin a four-day Central Asia visit, rarely mentions bin Laden in his public remarks about the war unless he is asked.

"We're hunting him down," he said. "We're tracking him down. He's hiding. We haven't heard hide nor hair of him for about, oh, since December, in terms of anything hard." Rumsfeld said even with bin Laden still on the loose, "he is probably not very effective now in running the al-Qaida organization."
(More: The Billings Gazette News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan