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CNN Live At Daybreak
The War on Terror: Bin Laden Tape?
Aired September 11, 2003 - 06:11 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: By now you've seen those tapes of Osama bin Laden and his top deputy. It's an odd sight, the two walking peacefully through the mountains and promising death to Americans. So many questions out there like where are they?
Live to Islamabad and Ash-Har Quraishi.
Ash-Har, is there any way to know where and when that tape was shot?
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that would be a good question for the intelligence agencies. What we understand right now, though, here in Pakistan the appropriate agencies are analyzing this tape. There is speculation as to where bin Laden may be hiding. In recent months there has been some talk of him hiding in the northwest of Pakistan in the lawless tribal areas. Whether or not this video was shot there is still a big question.
The agencies here say that they are looking into the possibility that it may have been shot in the northwest frontier province, maybe Balutaston (ph), maybe northern Afghanistan. Nobody seems to know. The terrain is consistent with some parts of that area in Pakistan, also some parts of Afghanistan.
The other thing that the agencies here in Pakistan are looking at is when was this shot. If this was shot a few months ago, it's very likely and possible that bin Laden may have moved on from the area where it was shot.
Now there has been somewhat of a focus along that northwest frontier province in that tribal belt, but it's continued along the entire western border. We've seen heightened military alerts in recent months. We've seen movements, large movements by the Pakistani army in areas that it had never gone before. But so far it's come up empty.
So the question still remains, where is bin Laden? Where is he hiding? What was the source of this tape? That may be something that agencies say would help them to try and determine how authentic it is and where he may have actually shot the tape -- Carol.
COSTELLO: In talking about that western border and you know American officials believe Osama bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri are somewhere in this 40-mile square area, why can't U.S. troops go in there and look themselves? Remind us again.
QURAISHI: Sure. The tribal areas in Pakistan have not been areas that have been controlled by even the government here since it -- since it was created. In over a century, nobody has gone into these tribal areas. They have been basically maintained by the tribesman, therefore, fiercely independent.
Just to give you an idea of the lay of the land, it's extremely inaccessible, very mountainous, very remote, very few resources available to the people who travel and live in this region. There have -- they have been very, very independent for so long now that it's been difficult for the Pakistani government to get into these areas.
Now recent months they have gone into the tribal belt. They have set up some posts along that western border to close off some of those frequented routes that could be used by remnant al Qaeda or Taliban fighters. But of course this is a very porous border.
Now the patrolling that continues along that border does not happen at night even. It's something that is considered very dangerous. Everyone in the tribal belt carries a gun. It's like a cell phone there. But just to give you an idea of what it looks like as these people don't have access to cell phones, televisions, that kind of thing, so it's very, very easy to try and use the sentiments of the region to try and hide there. So that's one problem -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ash-Har Quraishi reporting live for us from Islamabad, Pakistan this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 11, 2003 - 06:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: By now you've seen those tapes of Osama bin Laden and his top deputy. It's an odd sight, the two walking peacefully through the mountains and promising death to Americans. So many questions out there like where are they?
Live to Islamabad and Ash-Har Quraishi.
Ash-Har, is there any way to know where and when that tape was shot?
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that would be a good question for the intelligence agencies. What we understand right now, though, here in Pakistan the appropriate agencies are analyzing this tape. There is speculation as to where bin Laden may be hiding. In recent months there has been some talk of him hiding in the northwest of Pakistan in the lawless tribal areas. Whether or not this video was shot there is still a big question.
The agencies here say that they are looking into the possibility that it may have been shot in the northwest frontier province, maybe Balutaston (ph), maybe northern Afghanistan. Nobody seems to know. The terrain is consistent with some parts of that area in Pakistan, also some parts of Afghanistan.
The other thing that the agencies here in Pakistan are looking at is when was this shot. If this was shot a few months ago, it's very likely and possible that bin Laden may have moved on from the area where it was shot.
Now there has been somewhat of a focus along that northwest frontier province in that tribal belt, but it's continued along the entire western border. We've seen heightened military alerts in recent months. We've seen movements, large movements by the Pakistani army in areas that it had never gone before. But so far it's come up empty.
So the question still remains, where is bin Laden? Where is he hiding? What was the source of this tape? That may be something that agencies say would help them to try and determine how authentic it is and where he may have actually shot the tape -- Carol.
COSTELLO: In talking about that western border and you know American officials believe Osama bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri are somewhere in this 40-mile square area, why can't U.S. troops go in there and look themselves? Remind us again.
QURAISHI: Sure. The tribal areas in Pakistan have not been areas that have been controlled by even the government here since it -- since it was created. In over a century, nobody has gone into these tribal areas. They have been basically maintained by the tribesman, therefore, fiercely independent.
Just to give you an idea of the lay of the land, it's extremely inaccessible, very mountainous, very remote, very few resources available to the people who travel and live in this region. There have -- they have been very, very independent for so long now that it's been difficult for the Pakistani government to get into these areas.
Now recent months they have gone into the tribal belt. They have set up some posts along that western border to close off some of those frequented routes that could be used by remnant al Qaeda or Taliban fighters. But of course this is a very porous border.
Now the patrolling that continues along that border does not happen at night even. It's something that is considered very dangerous. Everyone in the tribal belt carries a gun. It's like a cell phone there. But just to give you an idea of what it looks like as these people don't have access to cell phones, televisions, that kind of thing, so it's very, very easy to try and use the sentiments of the region to try and hide there. So that's one problem -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ash-Har Quraishi reporting live for us from Islamabad, Pakistan this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
