An Arab newspaper Saturday reported an alleged follower of Osama bin Laden as saying the Saudi-born dissident had deployed 10 look-alikes in Afghanistan to foil US efforts at capturing the world's most wanted man.
The London-based Al Hayat daily, cited by Reuters, quoted a man with the nom de guerre 'Abul Noor' as also saying in an interview that bin Laden -- accused of masterminding the September 11 attacks -- had repeatedly spoken about taking part in World War Three.
Abul Noor, whom the paper said belonged to bin Laden's al Qaeda organization, was quoted as saying: “Even if the American attacks against Afghanistan succeeded in finishing the Taliban movement, they would not succeed in arresting bin Laden.”
“Not merely because that is difficult, but because bin Laden has 10 look-alikes. Two of them are North Africans and they all are in Afghanistan,'' he said, adding the only physical differences between them were birthmarks on their backs.
“Bin Laden has repeatedly spoken about a third world war... he was saying 'We would enter a third World War in the coming century','' Abul Noor commented in response to being told Washington had evidence of Al Qaeda's role in the September attacks.
The report comes as the United States said it has no reason to believe that bin Laden has left Afghanistan.
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke was quoted by AFP as saying Monday, "We don't have reason to believe, or suspect that he is out of the country," she said.
Clarke said US forces continued to "tighten the noose" around wanted terror suspect bin Laden.
The Sunday Times of London, quoting defense sources, reported that British and US special forces had cornered the Saudi-born millionaire in an 80-square-kilometer (30-square-mile) area southeast of Kandahar.
The spokeswoman declined to confirm the report, saying "either you have him or you don't."
But while reports and rumors of bin Laden's clandestine departure from Afghanistan continue, Washington says it is confident the world's most wanted man will be caught.
"As more and more of the country is released from Taliban domination, he has fewer and fewer places in which to hide," Secretary of State Colin Powell told ABC television on Sunday. "We're going to get him out of his hole sooner or later, but we'll get him."
Taliban announced two days ago that bin Laden and his family had left Afghanistan to an unknown destination. Hours later they said they were not sure if he was in Afghanistan or left. His whereabouts are still unknown – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
