US troops in Afghanistan reiterate reward for bin Laden
PLA Daily 2004-01-14
KABUL, Jan. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- US troops have stepped up their huntfor Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, in Afghanistan's border areas close to Pakistan by reiterating the earlier announced 25-million-dollar reward, local sources said on Tuesday.
Pamphlets were distributed recently by US-led coalition forces in Lalpoor district of the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, urging local people to furnish informationabout the whereabouts of bin Laden and his top aides, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Saiful Adil, according to the sources.
"Anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of Bin Laden or his aides will be rewarded with 25 million US dollars," says these leaflets found in the area.
The US government announced the price tag for bin Alden's arrest soon after it launched its global anti-terror war in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001 by the terrorist network.
The over 8,000 US troops in Afghanistan would be somewhat underpressure to capture the terror kingpin, who has been at large for over two years, after their colleagues in Iraq captured Sadam Hussein last month, observers here said.
However, the exact whereabouts of bin Laden and his associates has not been known since the collapse of the Taliban regime, whichharbored his al-Qaeda network, in late 2001.
Nangarhar of east Afghanistan became world-famous in late 2001 when US troops fruitlessly bombarded and combed Tora Bora mountains in the area, where bin Laden and his Arab fighters were hiding, for over one month.
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