Osama Bin Laden Manhunt Gathers Pace Amid New Hideout Reports

Seven years after invading Afghanistan, the American intelligence sleuths stationed in Pakistan have launched a massive hunt to capture Osama bin Laden following intelligence reports that he has been spotted in the Karakoram section of the Himalayan range along Pakistan’s borders with Afghanistan and China.

According to well placed intelligence sources in Islamabad, the US intelligence sleuths stationed in Pakistan have stepped up increased surveillance operations through newly built bases in the region and additional daily flights of Predator drones scour the area for any suspicious characters who might lead them to the world’s most sought after fugitive.

The passionate search operation is learnt to have been prompted by some latest CIA reports that Osama has been located in the rooftop of the world — the area of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan to the west, in particular the chain of mountains in the province of Nurestan, and China to the north.

Frequent claims as to the location of the fugitive al-Qaeda chief have been made by the Americans since December 2001, although none have been definitively proven and some have placed Osama in different locations during overlapping time periods. The US intelligence sleuths in Pakistan concede that finding one person in a big populated urban city is much more difficult as compared with tracking down someone in Northern Areas or the border areas of Pakistan.

However, there are many other factors pointed out by the Americans that have combined in the five years since the 9/11 to make the hunt for the Most Wanted more difficult — Pervez Musharraf’s unwillingness to cooperate as he fears being abandoned by the Americans once Osama is captured; the re-emergence of the Taliban militia in both Afghanistan and Pakistan; the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq that has exhausted the US military and intelligence resources etc.

Kastari Escaped From Singapore Detention Centre Without His Trousers!

Singapore says a suspected Islamic militant managed to escape from a detention centre two months ago mainly due to an unlocked window in the toilet - and fled without his trousers.

Wong Kan Seng, Singapore's deputy prime minister, told parliament today that Mas Selamat bin Kastari flipped his trousers above the cubicle door before escaping through a window.

"The guard had assumed that the urinal cubicle was a secure facility and that Mas Selamat could not escape from it. This assumption was wrong,'' he said.

Wong said Kastari had planned his escape "over time'' and that the two guards who escorted him to the toilet had "failed in their duties''.

"In my view, the security weakness of this window is the single most crucial factor which enabled Mas Selamat to escape,'' he said.

Wong said he was not sure how Kastari managed to get over the double perimeter fence at the centre, but said he could have "exploited a weakness'' in a section of the fencing.

Kastari, the suspected leader of the Singapore cell of al-Qaeda-linked militant network Jemaah Islamiah (JI), escaped in February from a detention centre where he was being held for allegedly plotting to crash a plane into Singapore's airport.

His escape sparked a massive manhunt on the tiny city-state that saw Nepali Gurkhas combing forests and a global security alert from Interpol.

JI has been blamed for the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Wong said that the investigation into Kastari's escape concluded that he received no help from the centre's guards or staff and was not assisted by someone from the outside.

The escape was seen by some experts as highly embarrassing for Singapore, which prides itself on tight security.

Wong said the authorities were considering building a new detention centre inside a prison.

Singapore, a strong US ally and a major base for Western businesses, sees itself as a prime target in the region after it said it foiled JI plots in 2001 to attack its airport and other sites, including the US embassy, the American Club and the Singapore American School.

***** There are several questions which come to mind after reading the explanation given at Singapore's parliament. If Kastari did not get help from anyone within the centre or from someone on the outside as the minister contends, how did the militant walk out into the streets without his trousers and without anybody noticing him? How does a 'trouserless' man hail a cab or melt into a crowd and make good his escape? Also how can the minister be so sure that he did not have any outside help?
Image - Source
Meanwhile in Indonesia: Jakarta Court Sentences Key Militant To 15 Years In Prison

Samy Vellu Flees From Protesters

Malaysian Indian Congress chief Samy Vellu had to cut his rally short after he was nearly accosted by more than 10 supporters of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) on Tuesday.

The incident took place at 1pm when Mr Samy Vellu arrived in a market in Prai, Penang, to canvass for votes, reported Nanyang Siang Pau.

The MIC chief, who is also the Works Minister, was about to begin his rally speech and press conference when the protesters marched up to him.

Despite the presence of 50 police officers, several of the protesters managed to break through Mr Samy Vellu's security detail.

The protesters wanted Mr Samy Vellu to discuss the problems facing the Indian community as well as to release Hindraf members who have been detained for demonstrating in Kuala Lumpur last November.

But when Mr Samy Vellu saw his accosters, he quickly escaped by hopping into his car and driving off to his next destination.

This only enraged the Hindraf supporters, who kept shouting at him, saying that he should not leave if he had not done anything wrong.

Mr Samy Vellu has been labelled a political liability after several embarrassing incidents.

Besides last November's protest, which accused the MIC of failing to protect the Indian community's welfare, the Works Ministry has been saddled with problems, from leaky roofs in the Malaysian Parliament House to cracks in a major highway in Kuala Lumpur.

Speaking to reporters, the Hindraf supporters said they had no intention of hurting Mr Samy Vellu.

Claiming that the Indian community is underprivileged, the Hindraf supporters said they just wanted 10 minutes of Mr Samy Vellu's time because they felt they deserved an explanation from him.

In a separate incident that evening, Mr Samy Vellu was forced to cancel a walkabout in Lunas, Kedah, after 3,000 Hindraf supporters demonstrated against his appearance there, reported Sin Chew Daily. The demonstrators had gathered there at 6.30pm, after getting wind of Mr Samy Vellu's appearance. More than 70 riot police officers were deployed to the scene.

The son of opposition politician N. Gobalakrishnan was among the protesters, and he and two others were detained.

The standoff continued until 7.45pm, when Mr Gobalakrishnan, who is the vice-president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, arrived at the scene and asked the police to release the detainees. Mr Gobalakrishnan was allowed to fetch his son from the Lunas Police Station.

At an earlier press conference, Mr Samy Vellu insisted that only a minority of Indians were dissatisfied with the Barisan Nasional coalition government.

He also said he believed that the BN could easily resolve the dissatisfaction of this minority. (The Electric New Paper)

***** What's surprising is Sam's tenacity and arrogance which shows no sign of diminishing. His attempt to downplay the incidents with his own interpretation of the embarrassing events is a trifle pathetic though.