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CNN Saturday Morning News
Mullah Omar Continues to Elude Authorities
Aired January 05, 2002 - 09:05 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: In Afghanistan, the U.S. has taken custody of a high-ranking al Qaeda leader. But Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar continues to elude authorities.
CNN's Bill Hemmer is on the ground in Kandahar, and he joins us with the latest -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Martin, good evening from Kandahar.
The man accused of running the terrorist camps here in Afghanistan is now in U.S. custody. His name, Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi. He's from Libya. Back in mid-September, the White House froze his assets shortly after the attacks on New York and Washington, and the plane that went down in western Pennsylvania.
We are told right now that he's on the top 12 wanted list of al Qaeda leaders, according to the White House. And certainly intelligence officers right now trying to get more information from him not only regarding the al Qaeda network here in Afghanistan, but certainly the al Qaeda network as it stretches and reaches around the world.
He's being held here again in Kandahar, one of 275 detainees after 25 more came in again last night. And sources inside that facility indicate to CNN that he's being held separately from the other detainees. They say they want him to have no contact with the other men being held here in Kandahar. One source says, "We're going to get more. Although we got one now, we're going to get more in the future."
Abdul Salam Zaeef, you may remember the name, and certainly you might remember the face. He was the face and the voice of the Taliban, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, especially quite visible during the early days of the air war over Afghanistan. He was seeking asylum in Islamabad, Pakistan, the Pakistanis refused that request.
And Zaeef is now, we are told, in Afghanistan under Afghan control, but possibly could be turned over to U.S. authorities at any point. And we expect him not to come here, rather, but what we're getting right now and what we're hearing is that he would be taken to the Bagram Air Base north of Kabul again, 25 miles north of the capital city. Now Omar, the hunt continues, and frankly, it is difficult to ascertain whether or not the U.S. or Afghan forces are any closer to finding the Taliban founder. In fact, the latest reporting we're getting right now at northern Helmand Province is that Omar may -- and I stress "may" -- may have slipped the net in that part of Afghanistan. And many folks within special forces were quite concerned that indeed this might be the case.
But we must caution you, any time we talk about Omar, we have been all over the map with regard to him throughout the week. And again, it's a different day, a different rumor, and a different report. We'll wait and see right now. But what we do know again, Marty, at this point the U.S. officials do not have him in their gunsights or in their custody -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Bill, curious: How is the transition of the Marines to the 101st Airborne there going?
HEMMER: Well, it's going actually quite well. You know, we saw a number of transitional teams come in this past week. In fact, we saw some more meetings today between the Marines here an the 101st Airborne. We do anticipate, Marty, some time in the next five to 10 days, you're going to see a whole swarm of that 101st come in here. They anticipate within 10 days they'll have 2,000 strong as the Marines continue to wind down their operation here.
But eventually, Marty, hopefully within 10 days' time, they say, they will hand over this airport to the 101st Airborne Division to maintain security, keep up the military vigilance, certainly watch the detainees here and the facility and eventually, possibly within seven days, even, bit optimistic for some, but possibly in 10 -- seven days' time, humanitarian aid will start coming here to southern Afghanistan -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: And how do the Marines feel about that? Are they anxious to leave?
HEMMER: Oh, boy, you bet, Marty. I tell you what, every time you talk to them, they cannot wait not only to pick up stakes here and get back to the ship. But to be quite honest with you, a lot of folks talk about going home. But for many of these Marines, that will not come any time before the month of March. And depending on the mission and depending on the mortar -- the orders, rather, from the Pentagon, that could be extended even longer.
But as you can anticipate, these guys have been away for months, and they miss home, they missed it for the holidays, and certainly they think a lot about their loved ones back there.
SAVIDGE: Bill, that's obviously understood. Bill, just before we let you go, what's the noise in the background? What's going on there?
HEMMER: That is a Super Stallion helicopter, Marty, and I can tell you front and center here, we hear a lot of them throughout the night. It's pretty dark right now, there are no lights on the runway now, still rather insecure in the area. All the helicopters and planes that take off and land, Marty, still are flying without lights, still said to be quite unstable.
In just a short time, Marty, we can tell you the first of many very loud C-17s will land here in Kandahar. We had about 30 more last night, cargo planes, land. It was another loud and long and noisy night here in Kandahar. We anticipate more again tonight, Marty.
SAVIDGE: CNN's Bill Hemmer joining us live from Kandahar in Afghanistan, thank you.
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