Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00326)

Afghanistan/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and Afghan forces destroyed 
the last bastion of the al Qaeda organization in Afghanistan on 
Sunday but did not find Osama bin Laden.
"We have no reason to believe that he has been either killed or 
captured. We don't know where he is," Powell said.
Brigitte
--- In theos-talk@y..., "nos" <nos@g...> wrote:
> OBL - minus wig and make up - is currently in his personal trailer
> outside a west hollywood soundstage owned by Rupert Murdoch.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Nos
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bri_mue [mailto:bri_mue@y...] 
> Sent: Friday, 14 December 2001 7:33 AM
> To: theos-talk@y...
> Subject: Theos-World By by Afghanistan.
> 
> 
> Yvonne Ridley of the UK Sunday Express, sneaked into taliban-held 
> territory illegally in late September hidden under a traditional 
> Afghan woman's burqa veil, but was caught as she journeyed back to 
> Pakistan. She was later released.
> 
> Ridley now is launching a book on her 10-day ordeal, accused 
western 
> intelligence services on wednesday of trying to have her executed 
> during her capture to boost public support for the bombing campaign 
> in Afghanistan.
> 
> "I suppose that if I had been publicly executed for being a spy, 
that 
> would have been a huge propaganda tool for the West," she told .
> 
> The allegations, which appear in the final chapter of "In the 
Hands 
> of the Taliban", were based on what Ridley said were false 
documents 
> she had seen suggesting she was a spy.
> 
> She had no copies, but said the documents, and evidence that her 
> apartment in London had been broken into during her assignment 
> abroad, all pointed to foul play.
> On the other hand trying to make a realistic assesment of the 
actual 
> situatuation in Afghanistan, the taliban no longer hold state 
power, 
> but it seems that doesn't mean they have ceased to exist. Only a 
> fraction of taliban fighters have been captured, and most of them 
> remain armed. Russian and indian estimates indicate there are 
about 
> 10,000 taliban captives out of an initial force of 40,000 to 
50,000. 
> If the estimates are correct,it seems then the 30,000 to 40,000 
> armed taliban still in Afghanistan might remain a force to be 
> reckoned with, if they can maintain some degree of cohesion. 
> In preparation for the deployment of new al Qaeda command cells, 
U.S. 
> forces have reportedly been moving into key countries. One media 
> report has U.S. military officers arriving in Somalia while others 
> say U.S. forces have been made available to the Philippines in its 
> fight against pro-bin Laden muslim rebels. 
> The Christian Science Monitor said bin Laden had escaped the Tora 
> Bora base to Pakistan 10 days ago with the help of Ghilzi 
tribesmen, 
> according to a senior Al Qaeda operative and Saudi financier, Abu 
> Jaffar.
> One problem with the media aspect of the war I think is, that the 
> Bush administration has allowed the war to be personalized. It has 
> focused on bin Laden and his fate as a key issue in the battle 
> against terrorism. So I wont ask anymore, "has anybody seen OBL ?".
> 

> Brigitte
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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