The Hindu : Pak. denies Osama's sons have been arrested

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 08, 2003

Front Page

Front Page

Pak. denies Osama's sons have been arrested

ISLAMABAD March 7 . The Pakistan Interior Minister, Faisal Saleh Hayat, today denied reports that two sons of the al-Qaeda leader and terrorist mastermind, Osama bin Laden, had been arrested in a joint operation by the forces of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States in south-western Afghanistan bordering Pakistan and Iran.

``There is absolutely no truth in this report. There has been no arrest of this nature,'' Mr. Hayat said, dismissing claims by Baluchistan's provincial Home Minister, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri.

Earlier, Mr. Zehri told reporters at his home in Baluchistan that Saad and Hamza had been "arrested from Rabat area in Afghanistan.''

And that they might have been injured in the operation that reportedly killed seven al-Qaeda men. Mr. Zehri refused to say which military units were involved.

``They were allied forces,'' operating near Rabat.

In Washington too, counter-terrorism officials disputed the report. They said they had no information suggesting that any of Osama's sons had been detained. Casting doubt on the report, a

U.S. official said "we, in fact, think it's wrong.''

Osama has at least 23 children by several wives, sources claim.

Saad is one the oldest, in his early 20s and has emerged as an al-Qaeda leader and one of America's top two dozen targets in the network.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

Stories in this Section

Iraq's cooperation active: Blix

We will act even without U.N. backing: Bush

Ganguly, Yuvraj script India's win

We will go ahead with the women's bill: PM

Pak. denies Osama's sons have been arrested

No question of quitting: Mayawati

Pak. spy held in Delhi

Sarkar Ministry sworn in

Scientist held

LPG price revision likely

Torpedo launched