20 Mar 2004

Hunt for bin Laden & Co in South Waziristan
Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, India
Supplied note: "The latest paper of the Institute For Topical Studies, A-2/3, Bharathi Dasan Colony, K.K.Nagar, Chennai---600078, India, on the above subject is now available at the web site of the South Asia Analysis Group (SAAG), New Delhi, at [the URL below] - br."
[Excerpt: "10. If bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri are hiding in the South Waziristan area as is generally speculated about, there has to be a sizable number of Arabs--mainly Saudis, Yemenis and Egyptians---meant for their protection from the so-called 055 Brigade of Al Qaeda in the area. there are so far no reports of the presence of such a large number of Arabs in that area. 11. According to available information, the foreigners present there (about 100, but Pakistani officials say 400) are mainly Chechens led by one Daniar, Uzbecks, led by Tahir Yuldesh, head of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Uighurs from the Xinjiang province of China and the Central Asian Republics. Amongst the local tribal chiefs, Nek Mohammad, Sharif Khan, Nur Islam, Maulvi Abbas and Maulvi Aziz, have been in the forefront of the anti-Pakistani and anti-US resistance. While the Arabs of Al Qaeda, particularly those meant for the protection of bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri, have been discouraged by their supervisors from marrying local women, many of the Chechens, Uzbecks and Uighurs have married local women and produced children. The local tribals do not look upon them as foreigners. Instead, they look upon them as their own and are not prepared to co-operate with the Pakistani forces by handing them over. " - b. raman.]
[The author of the paper, Mr B. Raman, is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India - ed.]
URL http://www.saag.org/papers10/paper957.html
Internet Archive (www.archive.org) [the paper was not archived at the time of this abstract. However, in a few weeks time it will be available at web.archive.org/web/*/www.saag.org]
Link reported by: B. Raman (corde[use"@"]vsnl.com)
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