Mystery Americans on the trail of bin Laden?
Carlotta Gall
The New York Times
International Herald Tribune, France
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Chitral (Pakistan):
This quiet mountain resort, better known for its polo games and mountain treks, has become the latest site of interest in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, much to the outrage and bemusement of its inhabitants.
Chitral is the remotest northwestern territory in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, stretching along the Afghan border to the high mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush and the Pamirs, following the Wakhan Corridor, the long finger of Afghanistan that reaches to the Chinese border.
It is here, in the largest town, also called Chitral, that four Americans from the U.S. Embassy rented a house last autumn, apparently preparing for a long stay, according to Siraj ul-Mulk, a member of the traditional ruling family here and the owner of the Hindu Kush Heights Hotel overlooking the valley where the four stayed.
But the house remained unoccupied until two weeks ago, when an American arrived with two carloads of furniture and equipment, provoking a local politician to object in Parliament and lead a street protest against the presence of what he termed an American "secret agency."
The American left three days before the demonstration took place, police officials said.
While there is no indication that more than one American came to the house this spring, the member of Parliament, Abdul Akbar Chitrali, insists that there were four and that they were up to no good.
"They were from an American secret agency - the FBI or CIA," he said. They were seen driving toward Chitral in an official consulate vehicle, he said, but switched to unmarked sport utility vehicles in a town called Dir, about 40 kilometers, or 25 miles, south of Chitral.
Officials at the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar declined to comment on the matter.
The registry of the Pamir Riverside Hotel shows that one American, Paul Aurdic, from the consulate in Peshawar, stayed for three nights starting on April 27, along with a Pakistani colleague, Muhammad Iqbal.
Caretakers at the house the Americans rented said the Americans had never stayed there but seemed to be preparing it for occupation. On Saturday, their belongings - fitness machines, furniture and a television satellite dish - could be seen stacked on the terrace, and a pickup truck was parked in the yard.
Maulana Chitrali, a member of the largest Islamist party, Jamaat i Islami, said the Americans were looking for bin Laden.
"They came on the basis of a very fabricated report that some Arabs came down from the mountains in a Jeep and visited the bazaar," he said, "and on that basis they established an office of the FBI because bin Laden might be hiding in that area."
May 15, 2006
Carlotta Gall
The New York Times
International Herald Tribune, France
__________________________
Chitral (Pakistan):
This quiet mountain resort, better known for its polo games and mountain treks, has become the latest site of interest in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, much to the outrage and bemusement of its inhabitants.
Chitral is the remotest northwestern territory in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, stretching along the Afghan border to the high mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush and the Pamirs, following the Wakhan Corridor, the long finger of Afghanistan that reaches to the Chinese border.
It is here, in the largest town, also called Chitral, that four Americans from the U.S. Embassy rented a house last autumn, apparently preparing for a long stay, according to Siraj ul-Mulk, a member of the traditional ruling family here and the owner of the Hindu Kush Heights Hotel overlooking the valley where the four stayed.
But the house remained unoccupied until two weeks ago, when an American arrived with two carloads of furniture and equipment, provoking a local politician to object in Parliament and lead a street protest against the presence of what he termed an American "secret agency."
The American left three days before the demonstration took place, police officials said.
While there is no indication that more than one American came to the house this spring, the member of Parliament, Abdul Akbar Chitrali, insists that there were four and that they were up to no good.
"They were from an American secret agency - the FBI or CIA," he said. They were seen driving toward Chitral in an official consulate vehicle, he said, but switched to unmarked sport utility vehicles in a town called Dir, about 40 kilometers, or 25 miles, south of Chitral.
Officials at the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar declined to comment on the matter.
The registry of the Pamir Riverside Hotel shows that one American, Paul Aurdic, from the consulate in Peshawar, stayed for three nights starting on April 27, along with a Pakistani colleague, Muhammad Iqbal.
Caretakers at the house the Americans rented said the Americans had never stayed there but seemed to be preparing it for occupation. On Saturday, their belongings - fitness machines, furniture and a television satellite dish - could be seen stacked on the terrace, and a pickup truck was parked in the yard.
Maulana Chitrali, a member of the largest Islamist party, Jamaat i Islami, said the Americans were looking for bin Laden.
"They came on the basis of a very fabricated report that some Arabs came down from the mountains in a Jeep and visited the bazaar," he said, "and on that basis they established an office of the FBI because bin Laden might be hiding in that area."
May 15, 2006
