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Expert slams US plans to hunt Osama in Pak Sheela Bhatt in Mumbai | July 23, 2007 21:14 IST United States' reported move to send its forces into Pakistan to strike at Osama Bin Laden seems to be part of Americans' efforts to bail out President Bush, a Peshawar-based expert on Taliban and close observer of Al Qaeda [Images] and its growth in the tribal region of Afghanistan and Pakistan has said. Atef was a police officer before turning military chief of Al Qaeda. His daughter was married to Osama's son. "Osama bin Laden is not caught yet because he is not using technology. He is resisting any efforts to use technology like telephone or vehicles with electronic fittings. He is not meeting many people. He is very clever. He has been successfully hiding by avoiding contacts with the outside world. He is living only in those areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan where he is supported by people faithful to him," he pointed out. Yusufzai argues, "We have not got any hard evidence that Osama is alive nor anyone has sighted him. In 2001, we heard about him at time of US attack in Tora Bora in Afghanistan. But, we know no Muslim community would prefer to stay away from fatiyas for so long or can hide the death of a prominent man for so long. Since the news of Osama's death is difficult to hide, it can be safely presumed that he is alive. "Even at the time of Tora Bora attack, Osama's voice was heard in the background but he was not seen. During that period Osama may have entered Pakistan with other military operatives of Al Qaeda. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar may have helped him then," he said. US Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell had recently said he believed Bin Laden was in northern Pakistan, near the Afghan border. US's Homeland security adviser Frances Townsend said that in the pursuit of Bin Laden, no options were off the table. However, Yusufzai questions US understanding of the Osama phenomenon. He said, "Osama is not running Al Qaeda. He is only of symbolic importance. Al Qaeda is formed of like-minded groups. US has failed miserably in the entire region. Only, Afghanistan gave them little success and that too is waning. Now Osama, Zawahiri and even Mullah Omar of Taliban are at large. World knows that Bush has failed to control terrorism or militancy." Talking about US plans to hit at Osama or his base, Yusufzai says: "Even if Osama is killed, it does not mean much. Osama's legacy will survive. He will be known as the person who challenged the might of America. He was a young man when he threw away comforts of life and sacrificed his life for the cause he believed in. He spent his own million of rupees for his goal." Yusufzai argues, "For US, there are no strategic gains in killing Osama because today, Osama or Al Qaeda is not as popular as before. There are Muslims who think that he has harmed them and their security deeply. There are extreme emotions of hate and love for Osama amongst Muslims. Al Qaeda has survived not because of Osama but because the countries in the West and US are not ready to look at their own shortcomings and wrongdoings." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||