Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Possible Hiding Places for Osama bin Laden

Aired November 14, 2001 - 09:19   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As the Taliban retreat to southern Afghanistan, western leaders want know, where is Osama bin Laden? And the secretary of defense actually admitted this morning that they, at this point, don't know where the leadership of the Taliban or al Qaeda is. Miles O'Brien joins us now from the War Room with a closer look at some of the possibilities. I was struck by what the secretary of defense has said. To your knowledge, has he said that so clearly before?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I am not sure I've heard it said that clearly. Needle in haystack comes to mind, Paula, when you talk about trying to find Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. And that's just talking about in and around Afghanistan. But before we even consider that, we need to kind of look at some other places where Osama bin Laden might have fled, sometime, even before the September 11 attacks, possibly.

Joining me to help navigate us through the big region and get us down to Afghanistan is our Military Analyst, retired Major General Don Shepperd. And I'm standing up here in Chechnya. Now Chechnya would seem like an unlikely place, on first blush, for Osama bin Laden to hide, but this is a region of Russia that has an ongoing Islamic civil war, if you will, under way. Why would this be a place for Osama bin Laden to hide?

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, it's one place that -- one of the few places on earth that would welcome him right now. Lots of sympathy for terrorists in that area against Russia, bitterness against Russia. They would welcome him there, for sure.

O'BRIEN: All right. As we move down to the south, and in -- and around the Red Sea, one of the places that is a known former home of Osama bin Laden is the Sudan. Sudan is a country that has been beset by turmoil for sometime, and thus might be place that would harbor terrorism?

SHEPPERD: Again, lots of Arabs in that country, and sympathy for terrorists, we sent missile attacks into Sudan before, in a suspected area there, and a place for him possibly to go with sympathy.

O'BRIEN: I believe it was -- he was in Sudan prior to moving to Afghanistan, if I recall correctly.

SHEPPERD: Right. O'BRIEN: Another place that might be of interest would be Yemen. This is -- his family's roots, actually, extend to Yemen. His father moved from Yemen to Saudi Arabia and made millions of dollars in the construction business, but this also is a country that does harbor terrorism. Of course, the USS Cole was docked in Yemen port when it was attacked by Osama bin Laden operatives. How likely a scenario would it be that he'd be in Yemen?

SHEPPERD: Well, again, it's possible. Now, the thing has changed, though, since before, is that this man has been -- has brought -- has been an anathema to Afghanistan itself. Brought a lot of -- a lot of misery here that other people can see. Further, our president has made it clear that not only him, but anyone who harbors him will suffer the same fate. People need to be listening.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's move in and look at our close-up map of Afghanistan. Obviously, Afghanistan is up there, but we have more close-up version here. As events unfold here, and as the Northern Alliance seems to be consolidating to the north, things moving down to Kandahar, the simple logic would be that somewhere in this maelstrom Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda has moved in that direction. Is that just logical to be true?

SHEPPERD: No, it's not too logical. It could be that he was eventually -- originally in Kandahar area. Again, for perspective for the viewers, think of Kabul as Denver, think of Kandahar as Aspen. About a 180 miles or so. And think of this as the rocky mountains. Think of all the places in the Rocky Mountains that a person could hide.

These mountains are even more rugged with many more caves and tunnels and this type thing that have developed over years. Lots of places in this area that he and al Qaeda could be, as well as north of Kabul, as well as up in northwestern area here to the east of Talukan in this area.

O'BRIEN: All right, one other place that might be worth noting. Pakistan. That border -- we've talked about that border frequently and how porous it is, particularly down in that southern region there. Is it possible that al Qaeda operatives have places to hide there, safe houses, or, in this case, maybe safe caves?

SHEPPERD: Yes, indeed. East of Jalalabad and also in the Quetta area of Pakistan over here, lots of sympathy for the Taliban in that particular area. Remember, though, again, the thing that is new is those who harbor him will also suffer the same fate and he has from the U.S. alone a 50 million dollar price tag on his head. Not bad pocket change for someone who wants to turn him over.

O'BRIEN: All right. But one thing about Osama bin Laden, wherever he travels, he doesn't travel in a very stealthy manner. Give a sense of how he could blend in, or perhaps not blend in, depending where he is.

SHEPPERD: It's tough for him to blend in. Wherever he goes, from a security standpoint, he has to be surrounded by a lot of Arabs, and he is 6'4" tall. Not a small target out there. And he's got a lot of people in the world looking for him, both in the United States and our coalition, and other people who perhaps after the reward.

O'BRIEN: We're talking about convoys of cars, and cars that could be spotted, through various intelligence means. Are you convinced, that based on the intelligence capacity that the U.S. has, that they can get a bead on Osama bin Laden?

SHEPPERD: No, I'm not convinced of that. He's still a very difficult target. This is a big world, and he is one man plus entourage in a big world out there. He's going to be difficult no matter where he goes, but he's going to have the United States and its coalition after him forever. I hope and I think we'll get him, but I'm not convinced.

O'BRIEN: There might be more focus here, but it is safe to say there are many other places, Osama bin Laden can hide.

SHEPPERD: Indeed.

O'BRIEN: All right. General Don Sheppard, retired. U.S. Air Force. As always, thanks for helping us literally navigate the globe here and give us a sense of where Osama bin Laden might or might not be. And we'll send it back to Paula in New York. We know she's there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com