Bin Laden 50 today?
By Saeed Ali Achakzai
Posted: March 10, 2007
SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden,
if he's alive, celebrates his 50th birthday on Saturday, March
10, and his friends in the Taliban prayed for his long life.
The al Qaeda leader's long silence has fueled speculation that
the world's most-wanted fugitive may have died, though many
in the international intelligence community reckon Islamist
militant Web sites would circulate word of his death.
"He is alive. I am 100 percent sure," Taliban spokesman
Mullah Hayatullah Khan told Reuters, adding that senior leaders
were in touch with Bin Laden, reinforcing a
widely held view that he is hiding near the rugged Pakistan-Afghanistan
border.
Khan said special prayers were offered by Taliban fighters
in camps in Afghanistan to mark Bin Laden's
birth on March 10, 1957, in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.
"We prayed that Allah may give him 200 years to live,"
Khan said," by satellite telephone from an undisclosed
location.
"When we woke up today, we offered collective and long
prayers for him because he is a great mujahid (holy warrior)."
The most recent videotape of Bin Laden was
released in late 2004 -- subsequent tapes released were identified
as old footage -- and around half a dozen audio tapes surfaced
in the first half of 2006.
But a long silence since then has fueled rumors that Bin
Laden is unwell, or dead, though the United States
fears that the al Qaeda network he founded is rebuilding its
base in Pakistani tribal lands, and has forged ties with affiliates
in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Dead or alive, Bin Laden is revered by some
as the symbolic leader of a global jihad, or holy war, against
the United States, following the September 11, 2001 attacks
on New York and Washington that killed more than 3,000 people.
"He is the man who raised voices against excesses being
committed on Muslims all over the world," the Taliban spokesman
said.
The Taliban were ousted from power by U.S.-backed forces in
late 2001 after their leaders refused to surrender Bin
Laden following the al Qaeda attacks on the United
States.
The attacks triggered the largest manhunt in history, with over
12,000 U.S.-led troops scouring the deserts and mountains of
Afghanistan for over five years.
The United States also announced a $25 million reward for any
information leading to the arrest or death of Bin Laden,
but leads on his whereabouts have been few and far between.
Intelligence on the movements of his Egyptian deputy, Ayman
al Zawahri, is gathered more frequently
Article at: reuters.com
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