AFGHANISTAN: The Bush administration has concluded that Osama bin Laden was at Tora Bora when US aircraft began bombing on November 30th but escaped because US ground troops were not sent to pursue the al-Qaeda leader, the Washington Post reported yesterday.
Intelligence officials have what they consider to be decisive evidence, gleaned from interrogations and intercepted communications, that bin Laden was inside the Tora Bora complex along Afghanistan's mountainous eastern border when the battle began, but escaped in the first 10 days of December, the newspaper said.
Captured al-Qaeda fighters, interviewed separately, gave consistent accounts describing an address by bin Laden around December 3rd to fighters dug into the caves and tunnels of Tora Bora, the Post said, citing intelligence officials.
"I don't think you can ever say with certainty, but we did conclude he was there, and that conclusion has strengthened with time," an unidentified official said in an authoritative account of the intelligence consensus, the report said.
"We have high confidence that he was there, and also high confidence, but not as high, that he got out. We have several accounts from people who are in detention, al-Qaeda people who were free at the time and are not free now," the official said.
Citing civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge, the report said after-action reviews, conducted privately inside and outside the military chain of command, described bin Laden's escape as a significant defeat for the United States.
According to the report, a common view among those interviewed outside the US Central Command is that Gen Tommy Franks, the war commander, misjudged the interests of Afghan allies who did not live up to their promises and let pass the best chance to capture or kill bin Laden.
Meanwhile, bin Laden was shown in an undated videotape excerpt aired yesterday hailing the major blow the September 11th attacks had dealt to the US economy. "Losses on the Wall Street market reached 16 per cent and they said this number was a record since the market opened," bin Laden said in the videotape aired by the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).
In France, anti-terrorist police yesterday arrested five persons suspected of playing a role in an apparent attempt by a British national to blow up a US airliner using explosives concealed in his shoes, sources close to the investigation said.
The sources said those arrested were rounded up in Paris and nearby suburbs at the request of top anti-terrorism prosecutor Mr Jean-Louis Bruguiere. - (Reuters)