Afghan Official: bin Laden in Pakistan

Afghan Official: bin Laden in Pakistan
Military.com | By Christian Lowe | November 06, 2007


The government of Afghanistan believes fugitive al Qaeda kingpin Osama bin Laden is holed up in Pakistan and has not found refuge in Afghanistan.

The Afghan ambassador to the United States, Said Jawad, told Military.com his intelligence services believe bin Laden is hiding in the urban warrens of one of Pakistan's major cities, though he could not specify which one.

The need for sophisticated medical care, communications networks to guide his al Qaeda operations and the flood of U.S., NATO and Afghan troops gunning for his capture in Afghanistan point to a refuge in Pakistan.

"We are certain that he is not in Afghanistan," Jawad told Military.com during a Nov. 1 interview. "And if you look at where they found most of his friends and associates, it has been mostly in major metropolitan centers, not in caves in isolated areas."

Jawad's assertion is at odds with continued denials from Pakistan that bin Laden is in their country. Pakistani officials continually accuse Afghanistan of not properly securing its mountainous border, giving bin Laden an open door to refuge in the friendly tribal regions on the Afghan side.

Bin Laden needs dialysis for kidney disease that's not readily available in Afghanistan, and he's a six foot tall Arab "that cannot easily mix into the local population," Jawad said.


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