WASHINGTON: The United States will launch a new effort to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, who is believed to be hiding along the mountainous Afghan-Pakistani border, US national security adviser James Jones said on Sunday. Asked in an interview if the administration planned a fresh attempt to go after Al-Qaeda's leader, Jones said: "I think so." The latest intelligence reports suggest that Bin Laden "is somewhere inside north Waziristan, sometimes on the Pakistani side of the border, sometimes on the Afghan side of the border, hiding in very, very rough mountainous area, generally ungoverned," Jones said. "We're going to have to get after that to make sure a very important symbol of what Al-Qaeda stands for is once again on the run or captured," said Jones, a retired Marine general. Al-Qaeda was plotting more attacks against US and other Western targets and the United Stated needed to ensure those plots did not "become a reality," he said. The Al-Qaeda network's leader is seen as the chief mastermind of the attacks of September 11, 2001 on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people. Jones said the United States was working closely with Islamabad to disrupt militant networks inside Pakistan's borders. Despite Jones' vow to track down Bin Laden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday in an interview that Washington did not know where the Al-Qaeda leader was and had lacked reliable information on his whereabouts for years. Immediately after the attacks, US government officials named Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda network as the prime suspects and offered a reward of 25 million dollars for information leading to his capture or death. In 2007, the reward was doubled to 50 million dollars. But so far, the Al-Qaeda founder has avoided capture. A Senate report released last week said Bin Laden was "within the grasp" of American forces in late 2001 but escaped because then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejected calls for reinforcements.
WASHINGTON: The United States will launch a new effort to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, who is believed to be hiding along the mountainous Afghan-Pakistani border, US national security adviser James Jones said on Sunday. Asked in an interview if the administration planned a fresh attempt to go after Al-Qaeda's leader, Jones said: "I think so." The latest intelligence reports suggest that Bin Laden "is somewhere inside north Waziristan, sometimes on the Pakistani side of the border, sometimes on the Afghan side of the border, hiding in very, very rough mountainous area, generally ungoverned," Jones said. "We're going to have to get after that to make sure a very important symbol of what Al-Qaeda stands for is once again on the run or captured," said Jones, a retired Marine general. Al-Qaeda was plotting more attacks against US and other Western targets and the United Stated needed to ensure those plots did not "become a reality," he said. The Al-Qaeda network's leader is seen as the chief mastermind of the attacks of September 11, 2001 on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people. Jones said the United States was working closely with Islamabad to disrupt militant networks inside Pakistan's borders. Despite Jones' vow to track down Bin Laden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday in an interview that Washington did not know where the Al-Qaeda leader was and had lacked reliable information on his whereabouts for years. Immediately after the attacks, US government officials named Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda network as the prime suspects and offered a reward of 25 million dollars for information leading to his capture or death. In 2007, the reward was doubled to 50 million dollars. But so far, the Al-Qaeda founder has avoided capture. A Senate report released last week said Bin Laden was "within the grasp" of American forces in late 2001 but escaped because then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejected calls for reinforcements.
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