Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden escaped Afghanistan by giving his satellite phone to his Moroccan bodyguard, who served as decoy for US forces tracking the signal, it was reported today.
The bodyguard, Mr Abdallah Tabarak, was captured at Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan in November 2001 and sent to the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He is now a leader among fellow al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees at the camp, senior Moroccan officials told the
Washington Post
.
"He agreed to be captured or die," one official said. "That's the level of his fanaticism for bin Laden".
Mr Tabarak (43) used bin Laden's phone while moving around the cave complex at Tora Bora that was besieged by US and pro-US Afghan forces.
"It wasn't a lot of time, but it was enough," said the Moroccan officials who have interviewed Mr Tabarak and other Moroccan prisoners at Guantanamo.
Bin Laden is believed to have fled Tora Bora to neighbouring Pakistan. Despite several messages attributed to him since his presumed escape, there is no definitive proof to suggest whether he is alive or dead. A US reward of $5 million for his capture still stands.
The Moroccan officials said US forces in Afghanistan did not know who Mr Tabarak was when they captured and sent him to Guantanamo.
They said they had since established his role by examining the satellite telephone he had and through interviews with other captives.
They said the ploy that allowed bin Laden to escape was widely known and celebrated among the prisoners at the military prison in Guantanamo.
AFP