Ameritrade (fka AMTD)

[mokew]

Osama Bin Laden Detected in Pakistan's Northwest, AFP Says
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and U.K. forces have detected al- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in northwestern Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, Agence France-Presse reported citing a report in London's Sunday Express newspaper.

Bin Laden and as many as 50 supporters were ``north of the town of Khanozai and the city of Quetta,'' the newspaper reported, citing an unidentified ``U.S. intelligence source,'' the news agency said. Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is believed to be with bin Laden, the newspaper said, AFP reported.

The leader of al-Qeada, which has been blamed for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, moved 240 kilometers (150 miles) from the south to the Toba Kakar mountains about one month ago, the Sunday Express said, AFP reported. A U.S. defense department spokesman declined to comment on the report, AFP said.

The area is under surveillance from a satellite while forces await orders, the newspaper said in its early Sunday edition, AFP reported. Bin Laden's whereabouts had been discovered from ``a combination of CIA paramilitaries and special forces, plus image analysis by geographers and soil experts,'' the newspaper reported, AFP said.

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Report claims bin Laden 'cornered'
US and British special forces have cornered Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a mountainous area in north-west Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, the Sunday Express newspaper reports.

Quoting "a US intelligence source," it said bin Laden and "up to 50 fanatical henchmen" were inside an area 16 kilometres wide and deep "north of the town of Khanozai and the city of Quetta".

"He is boxed in," the unidentified source was quoted by the tabloid as saying, adding that US special forces were "absolutely confident" that he could not escape.

The source says bin Laden moved into the area "in the desolate Toba Kakar mountains," about one month ago from another area 240 kilometres to the south, the newspaper said.

On Thursday, General Richard Meyers, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said US forces were engaged in "intense" efforts to capture bin Laden, but held back from saying where he might be hiding.

"There are areas where we think it is most likely he is, and they remain the same," General Meyers said, who was speaking to reporters in Washington.

"They haven't changed in months," he said.

Asked whether the Al Qaeda leader was believed to be in Pakistan, the General said, "don't know that - we think in that border region somewhere, we don't know where it is precisely".