Omar says he hasn’t seen bin Laden for years

[sabra]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16467288/from/RS.4/

Omar says he hasn’t seen bin Laden for years
Taliban chief insists he doesn’t know whereabouts of al-Qaida leader

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Taliban chief Mullah Omar has added to the mystery over Osama bin Laden, saying he hasn’t seen his ally and fellow fugitive since U.S.-backed forces ousted the Taliban from Afghanistan in 2001.

“No, I have neither seen him, nor have I made any effort to do so, but I pray for his health and safety,” Omar said in an e-mailed response to questions sent by Reuters.

The questions were relayed to Omar through his spokesman, Mohammad Hanif, and a reply was received late Wednesday.

A half-dozen audio tapes of bin Laden were circulated during the first half of 2006, but the al-Qaida leader last appeared on video tape in late 2004, while tapes of his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, have been issued regularly.

[Hoosier Dem]

1. Has anyone searched Cheney's "Undisclosed Location"?

[Cass]

2. Wait a minute. Reuters is getting email from Mullah Omar? Last I heard was

he was a wanted man. Its amazing how certain people are able to elude capture and yet communicate so easily on a global scale, isn't it? Kind of reminds me of his buddy, Osama.

[No Exit]

4. Yeah! Mullah Omar was this Big Enemy of America

but for some reason the neocons and other warmongers seem to have forgotten all about capturing him.

Gee, you don't think the neocons and other warmongers have been LYING to us... ?

[rodeodance]

6. OH------its a Mystery!!

.....Although several governments and intelligence agencies rebutted that report, saying they had no evidence to suggest bin Laden had died, they acknowledged they had no clue to where he was.

The wealthy Saudi-born bin Laden helped bankroll the Taliban after moving to Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, and he was reported to have married one of Omar’s daughters to cement their alliance.

The United States has offered a $25 million reward for the capture of bin Laden and $10 million for Omar.

The best guess to bin Laden’s whereabouts remains somewhere on the rugged border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in the ethnic tribal lands where Omar’s Taliban counts on support to fight an insurgency against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and the government of President Hamid Karzai.

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Discuss: What do you think about the hunt for bin Laden?

[Cass]

9. What do I think of the hunt for Bin Laden? I think there's something seriously wrong here.

I find it very hard to believe we can't find this guy or his buddy, Mullah Omar. I don't know where Bin Laden is but I always suspected he was in Saudi Arabia. They say he's in Pakistan and that we can't violate Pakistan's sovereignty to catch him. Now, if Pakistan isn't cooperating with us in catching OBL then they are just as bad as him according to Bush (we will make no distinction between those who committed this crime and those who harbor them). So why aren't we pressuring Pakistan about this?

Maybe if we hadn't diverted massive financial and military resources to invade and occupy Iraq for no reason we could have caught Bin Laden and put down the Taliban regime for good. But we invaded a sovereign nation that had absolutely nothing to do with 9-11 and dropped the ball in Afghanistan, purposefully it would seem. There is a major disconnect in Bush's WOT. I do not understand why the public doesn't question this disconnect more.

[Zensea]

3. This is propaganda and not news

Omar could be lying for all we know so he is engaging in propaganda.
But Reuters is engaging in propaganda also because 1)they don't question his statement & 2) they say that it adds to the mystery over Osama.
It doesn't add anything at all except to confuse and befuddle things which is why I say it is propaganda.

[Kagemusha]

5. Even so, I have to ask, why would Osama meet him?

The heat's on both of them, and what exactly would they have to discuss, anyway?

[underpants]

7. Yeah we are having a hard time finding him ourselves

Last time we were in the same neighborhood we only had 50 guys to secure 15 square miles.

[treestar]

8. Maybe torture will get him to cough it up?

:sarcasm:

[bigworld]

10. Wait, isn't he blind?

[JohnLocke]

13. No.

You're probably thinking of Omar Abdel-Rahman ("the Blind Sheikh"). Mohammed Omar ("Mullah Omar") is not blind.

[H2O Man]

14. Actually

he is blind in one eye.

[JohnLocke]

15. Link?

Never read that.

[H2O Man]

17. For but one example,

see page 160 of Peter Bergen's "The Osama bin Laden I Know." Also, almost every photo of him will show that he is missing one eye, as a result of an old wound.

Paragraph 3 on page 160: "The Taliban first emerged in Kandahar in 1994 under the leadership of an enigmatic, reclusive leader, the one-eyed Mullah Omar."

[JohnLocke]

18. Interesting, thanks (nt).

[H2O Man]

19. Sure.

Odd character. The report in the OP is curious, because no matter if he had any contact or not, he is obviously going to say he hasn't.

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. That was my reaction

Sure he hasn't seen him, he hasn't 'seen' anybody in years.

[H2O Man]

20. He is blind in one eye.

He was injured during the war against the Soviets. But he can still see.

[frylock]

11. he doesn't really think about him very much..

He's not that concerned.

[kimmerspixelated]

12. my friends

OBL has become a fictional character. Once he was a Cia guy-and now he is dead.

[Pastiche423]

21. OBL be dead

He died in December 2001.