http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAMOM8EGSC.html

Oct 5, 2001

Saudi Diplomat: Osama Bin Laden, Not Taliban, Real Power in Afghanistan

The Associated Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - A former Saudi diplomat to Afghanistan was quoted Friday as saying Osama bin Laden - and not the Taliban militia - is the real power there.

Abdullah bin Saad al-Otaibi, the former Saudi charge d'affaires to Afghanistan, also said the Taliban themselves were in the dark about the locations of bin Laden's "hidden bases" in the country. He was quoted in an interview published Friday in the Okaz newspaper.

Saudi Arabia broke diplomatic ties with the Taliban on Sept. 25 over the regime's refusal to surrender bin Laden, the United States' main suspect in Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon. It was not clear when al-Otaibi returned from Afghanistan.

In unusually open remarks, al-Otaibi was quoted as saying bin Laden holds greater power than the Taliban and "that's why the movement cannot hand him to the United States." "In fact, Osama bin Laden has more authority than any other defense minister in the world," the Saudi said.

Neither al-Otaibi nor Saudi Information Ministry officials could be reached for comment Friday.

Without citing sources, al-Otaibi was quoted as saying there were deep, "well-constructed and well-equipped" tunnel hideouts for bin Laden's movement - built to withstand bombs and missiles, and equipped with oxygen supply, air conditioning, water tanks and food storage.

"Nobody knows about these except his close associates only," al-Otaibi was quoted as saying, adding that bin Laden "only trusts himself" and a few others, including his top lieutenant, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri. Bin Laden changes his guards, including Arabs, every three days, said al-Otaibi.

Al-Otaibi said information available before the Sept. 11 attacks confirmed "sharp differences" inside bin Laden's al-Qaida network. The rift was particularly great between Persian Gulf and Egyptian factions within the network, he said, because of bin Laden's recent heavy reliance on his Egyptian associates.

Al-Otaibi said each summer vacation, 200 to 300 young men come to bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan for training. Most come via Pakistan, he said.

AP-ES-10-05-01 1547EDT

-- Swissrose (cellier3@mindspring.com), October 05, 2001

Answers

I don't doubt it for a minute. Bin Laden is the one with the power, money, military know-how, and influence. The jug-heads of the Taliban seem to be no-nothing religious fanatics only.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), October 05, 2001.

Any regime that has a Dept. of Justice And Morality has to be nothing but barbaric and stone age.

-- R2D2 (r2d2@earthend.net), October 05, 2001.

Why wouldn't the dangling of millions of dollars in bounty, from the deep pockets U.S. Treasury, smoke him out? Out of the hundreds of intimates around him, the old time-honored Law of Averages says there has to be at least one or two potential traitors.

-- QMan (qman@c-zone.net), October 05, 2001.

What's this I keep hearing about the ailing bin Laden. Could it be that the draftiness and oxygen problems of caves have given him a respiratory condition?

-- Sparky (case@webtown.com), October 05, 2001.

The problem with killing for a bounty is that you have to survive to collect.

-- Joe (CactusJoe001@AOL.com), October 05, 2001.

Note the referrence to "well-constructed and well-equipped" tunnel hideouts for bin Laden's movement - built to withstand bombs and missiles, and equipped with oxygen supply, air conditioning, water tanks and food storage". And, "Nobody knows about these except his close associates only,"

-- Ken (n4wind@sonic.net), October 05, 2001.

A few nukes will end all of this.

-- Jason (jason@mednet.com), October 06, 2001.

Who could doubt that bin Laden is in power; but I don't believe in nukes.

-- Nancy7 (nancy7@hotmail.com), October 06, 2001.

It should have been obvious right from the beginning that bin Laden was THE power.

-- RogerT (rogerT@c-zone.net), October 06, 2001.