U.S. search in Afghanistan focuses on bin Laden, Omar

By PAULINE JELINEK
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – The two most wanted men in the war in Afghanistan continue to elude American troops and allies.

Osama bin Laden's whereabouts remain a mystery, U.S. officials say, despite intense efforts to find him. And U.S. officials are skeptical of Afghan leaders' contention that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is in a mountainous area negotiating to surrender.

Here, in question and answer form, is a look at the searches:

Q: Where are American-led forces looking?

A: U.S. and British special forces are helping Afghan fighters scour caves in the forested mountain area of Tora Bora, the last al-Qaida stronghold before most fighters fled last month.

U.S. forces also have been interdicting roads around the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. And U.S., British and German forces are stopping ships to look for anyone who may try to escape by sea.

The Pentagon has not said where else it may be searching, but Afghan sources said this week that American troops were taking part in an effort to capture Omar in the mountains near the city of Baghran.

"They are with anti-Taliban forces that are searching," Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday.

Q: How do they know where to search?

A: The American government was gathering intelligence on bin Laden long before the Sept. 11 attacks. It also gets information from Afghan allies and those in other countries.

U.S. forces fly reconnaissance planes to watch for movements and intercept phone calls or other communications. Unmanned spy planes also have been used extensively.

And Americans have been collecting computer discs, documents, video tapes and other things of possible intelligence value, left behind when Taliban and al-Qaida fled one city after another.

Some 200 Marines searched a former Taliban compound in Helmand province this week, and officials said U.S. forces have quietly gone on a dozen such missions in recent weeks.

Q: How many al-Qaida and Taliban have already been found?

A: Afghan fighters are holding some 7,000 prisoners they captured as they took various cities, starting with Mazar-e-Sharif in November. After sorting through them, Americans have taken custody of more than 200 they want for interrogation or prosecution.

At least hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida have been killed – reportedly including the Taliban intelligence chief – but casualties are impossible to verify.

Q: What is the United States doing about those who have escaped Afghanistan?

A: Naval forces including those of the United States, Britain and Germany are stopping ships in the Arabian Sea and off the coast of Africa.

American officials also are seeking help in countries where al-Qaida fighters might flee or where al-Qaida has cells, including Somalia and Yemen. U.S. sources have said a few escaped al-Qaida arrived last month in Somalia.

Pakistan has sent thousands of troops to its border with Afghanistan and has captured hundreds of suspected al-Qaida and Taliban. More than 100 have been handed over to the United States.

Q: What does the United States know about bin Laden's whereabouts?

A: He isn't likely to be found alive in caves being searched by U.S. special forces in the Tora Bora area, the commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force said Wednesday.

"I do think he's either dead, buried under some tonnage of rock or he's out of there," said Col. John Mulholland.

In general, the reports of bin Laden's whereabouts "are all over the map," Stufflebeem said.

Q: And Omar, the Taliban supreme leader?

A: He might be holed up with some 1,000 fighters at Baghran in central Afghanistan, according to America's Afghan allies.

Pentagon officials, though, said they doubted Omar was seeking to surrender. Some 1,000 to 1,500 Taliban fighters holding out near Baghran are trying to "negotiate themselves out of a predicament," Stufflebeem told reporters. "But I think it's a leap of faith if we believe that that is on the behalf of Mullah Omar himself."

APNP-01-03-02 0021CST