Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: October 7, 2002
Suspected terrorist mastermind
Osama bin Laden is alive and regularly meeting Mullah Omar, the fugitive
leader of the Taliban, according to a telephone call intercepted by American
spy satellites.
In the conversation, recorded less
than a month ago, Omar and a senior aide were discussing the American-led
hunt to track them down.
The two men, using a mobile Thuraya
satellite phone, spoke about tactics for several minutes. Omar then turned
to a third person who was within a few yards of him, voice analysis has
revealed, The Observer weekly reported from Jalalabad.
After exchanging a few words, Omar
said that 'the Sheikh sends his salaams (greetings)'. Senior Taliban figures
usually refer to Bin Laden as 'the Sheikh'.
The revelation comes amidst growing
speculation that Bin Laden is dead. He has looked gaunt and unwell in videos
released by Al Qaida, and appeared unable to use his left arm.
There has been no public statement
from Bin Laden since early this year.
Bin Laden's current whereabouts
are not known, but it is thought he is moving between Pakistan and Afghanistan
via the remote border between the Afghan province of Paktia and the Pakistani
tribal agencies of Waziristan.
Some analysts say this lack of communication
indicates that he might be dead, but others say he is biding his time.
"He does not want to be rushed into saying something reactive. He wants
to make statements on his own terms," said Abdul Bari Atwan, editor of
Al-Quds newspaper in London.
Other analysts pointed out that
Mullah Omar could have been bluffing in the knowledge that he was being
tapped by Americans. Three months ago a senior Al Qaida operative, apparently
inadvertently, referred to Bin Laden in the past tense in an interview
with an Arab journalist in Karachi. PTI
