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CNN Live Today

Al Qaeda Graves Located in Afghanistan

Aired May 07, 2002 - 12:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back overseas now, Afghanistan: Allied forces have excavated the graves of more than 20 Arab fighters in the search for Osama bin Laden.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote, one of the few journalists allowed on that hunt, also involved in an effort to enter bombed-out caves right along the border with Afghanistan, Ryan is live now from Bagram Air Base north of Kabul there in Afghanistan -- good evening.

BRIAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.

Actually, with us this evening, we have the opportunity to speak with the Canadian commander of that mission. And that was -- that is Lieutenant Colonel Pat Stogran.

And the lieutenant colonel is with us tonight.

And, Lieutenant Colonel, it now quite clear that one of the main objectives of this mission was to find and identify the remains of top al Qaeda fighters and Osama bin Laden. Why Tora Bora? Why now? Why remains? And we are hearing reports that Osama bin Laden is alive, dead. Could you shed some light on all of that?

LT. COL. PAT STOGRAN, CANADIAN BATTLE GROUP COMMANDER: I think the background to it is, as we know, bin Laden made his last stand at Tora Bora. And it was unsuccessful due to the coalition combat power that was brought to bear against him.

And due to the absence of some hard intelligence of his whereabouts since those attacks back in December, the thought was that perhaps he had died there.

CHILCOTE: And, specifically, in cave No. 4, what the U.S. military coalition troops were calling cave No. 4, there was the thought he might be in there. How did you do there? Why did you go there? And how did the troops do with cave No. 4?

STOGRAN: The reason why we went there is, there was some significant intelligence the indicated that some of his personal bodyguards had perhaps died there inside the cave. And it was thought that perhaps he had been with them.

So, our goal was to try and find the entrance to cave No. 4, as you referred to, and open it up, and collect forensic evidence to see if in fact bin Laden was there.

CHILCOTE: But not an easy thing to do.

STOGRAN: No. We moved tons of earth trying to locate the entrance. The locals assured us that there were no cave complexes in the area. But, nevertheless, they did tell us about the grave site of some of the fighters from the valley that were given quite a monumental burial site down in the village. And they suggested that perhaps bin Laden was one of the ones that was buried there.

CHILCOTE: And tell us about that. What were your impressions of that grave site? And what do you think you accomplished there?

STOGRAN: Well, we know that it was a quite a monument.

It had extensive flags. It had power running to it. And it was built up as a mound. So, the individuals that were buried there, we surmise were probably significant members of the al Qaeda. We did extensive exhumations of the bodies. We didn't find any that matched the dimensions of the individual that we were looking for. However, we are confident that we probably do have some of the key players from the al Qaeda.

CHILCOTE: I know you were really looking to come back with the remains of Osama bin Laden. Is this kind of a personal disappointment for you, or...

STOGRAN: Well, certainly. I would have liked to have been known as the person who found the remains of bin Laden. But, from my perspective, the mission was a success.

It demonstrated that the coalition can strike any time, any place that it wants to. It demonstrated, by our extensive demolitions in trying to identify the cave entrances, that we will go to any measure, any length to carry out our tasks.

CHILCOTE: Do you think that Osama bin Laden will be found dead or alive at any point?

STOGRAN: Well, that's a pretty long shot to call from this point. I know that the entire world is committed to tracking him down, so...

CHILCOTE: All right.

Well, that was Lieutenant Colonel Pat Stogran. He was the Canadian commander of the troops out there on Operation Torii -- back to you, Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Ryan, thank you -- Ryan Chilcote there at Bagram, the air base north of Kabul. We do anticipate to learn more about this throughout the day.

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