PAKISTAN Hopes of getting bin Laden, lieutenant grow dimmer

One Pakistani official said bin Laden is an 'obsession' for the United States.
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Pakistani forces pounded tribal areas Saturday with heavy artillery and Cobra helicopters for the third day in a row, but hopes faded that Osama bin Laden or his lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahri might be cornered.
Instead, the "high-value target" thought to be at the center of the mountain stronghold under assault may be only a Chechen commander or a local criminal, according to Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain Shah, Frontier Corps commander of Peshawar.
He said three people were killed in fighting Saturday and 40 arrested, raising total arrests to 100 since the Pakistani military operation began Monday. About 25 people of the 40 arrested Saturday were foreign fighters.
Interior Minister Faisal Saleh said the military operation should conclude Monday night.
The ongoing battles in South Waziristan have given free reign to cynics here.
"The U.S. has the technology to find an insect on the head of a person half way around the world, and they can't find Osama bin Laden?" said Malik Darya Khan, 38, a merchant. "Someone has already arrested him and are now using this attack in South Waziristan for President Bush's election."
Khurshid Ahmad, a senator with the Jamaat-I-Islami, Pakistan's oldest fundamentalist religious party and chairman for the Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad, called bin Laden an "obsession" with the United States that threatens the peace of Pakistan.
"The tribal belt was a safe area," Ahmad said. "Now the whole area is boiling. Now innocent people are being killed and arrested for what? Suspicion? Now, Pakistan is a target for terrorists. We never had this problem before. What has this accomplished?"
The semi-autonomous tribal regions bordering Afghanistan have long been thought to be a potential hiding place of bin Laden because of its rough terrain and inaccessibility. After meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday, Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf announced that his forces might have surrounded a key Al-Qaida leader, leading to a flurry of speculation that bin Laden finally had been cornered.
Coinciding activity
The increased military activity on the Pakistan side coincides with a large U.S.-led offensive in southeast Afghanistan to rout out Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters. U.S. officials repeatedly have called on Pakistan to act more aggressively toward remnants of Al-Qaida and Taliban forces hiding in the tribal areas.
The capture or killing of al-Zawahri would be a boon to President Bush as he seeks re-election while fending off criticism of its Iraq policies amid constant attacks by Iraqi insurgents.
Bin Laden has become a symbol of resistance for some Pakistanis who feel the war on terror is anti-Muslim.
"He is one individual seen as standing up to Bush and the power of the state," said Ijaz Shafi Gilani, chairman of GALLU/BRB, a marketing-research firm in Islamabad. "The same way Saddam Hussein attracted support because he was thought to stand up to power. Many of his supporters despised Hussein until such time he was perceived to stand up to the United States."
Others who believe bin Laden is alive are concerned less with what he did and where he is hiding than how they think the United States brandishes him through its war on terror to wield influence.
"People understand why the United States wants to get Osama bin Laden," said Sherry Rehman, a Karachi-based lawmaker with the Pakistan People's Party, which opposes many of the polices of President Musharraf, including the campaign in South Waziristan. "But now because of Musharraf's participation in the war on terror and the fighting in the tribal areas, there is an overwhelming sense of the possibility of American troops landing here. Whether that's real or not, it is very difficult to swallow."