The Hindu : U.S. feels Osama tape is genuine

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 15, 2002

International

International

U.S. feels Osama tape is genuine

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

New York Nov. 14. Even as the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency are looking for every bit of possible information on the latest audiotape of Osama bin Laden, the private feeling is that the tape is indeed `authentic'. And this has set off a flurry of activity within the administration, the intelligence community and Congress on what the United States can and should be doing.

The U.S. President, George W Bush, has said that he is taking the tape and the message "very seriously'', maintaining that "great progress'' is being made on the war on terror. "Whoever put the tape out has put the world on notice yet again that we're at war'', the President said at a Cabinet Meeting in the White House. "Slowly but surely we are dismantling the terrorist network'', he remarked. The administration has not formally come out with a statement on the Osama tape, but unnamed intelligence and counter-terrorism officials have been freely quoted in the media as saying that the top agencies have `nearly' come to the conclusion that it is indeed Osama's voice on the tape.

"They can't get to 100 per cent certainty, but they're sure'', a law enforcement official has been quoted. The certainty of whether the voice is that of Osama aside, the other challenge is in seeing if the tape contained any `coded' messages for Al-Qaeda cadres out in the world. "There has been a lot of chatter and when there is a lot of signal traffic, if history is any guide, there have been more attacks or attempted attacks'', the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richad Shelby said. One feeling in the administration and outside is that attacks may come on "soft targets'', like for instance the bombing of the nightclub in Bali, Indonesia last month that killed close to 200 persons. In the aftermath of the tape, there is no doubt that the Bush administration will seek to place additional resources to further intensify the tracking efforts.

The intelligence community — the CIA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation — have been working in very close cooperation with elite army troopers in a bid to hunt down Osama and senior operatives of the Al-Qaeda. The Pakistani leader, Pervez Musharraf, may say all he wants — that the Al-Qaeda leader is dead or most certainly not in Pakistan — but a strong feeling in many quarters here is that Osama is holed up in Western Pakistan, in an area that is even very hostile to the local government and forces.

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