Worldandnation: Many are captured, but not bin Laden

Many are captured, but not bin Laden

By PAUL DE LA GARZA and JEFF TESTERMAN

TAMPA -- Opposition forces engaged in a "pitched battle" in eastern Afghanistan captured al-Qaida fighters Friday, but the whereabouts of their leader, Osama bin Laden, remained unknown, Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks said.

At a news briefing in Tampa, Franks said that "a lot" of al-Qaida fighters had been killed during the fight under way in Tora Bora, the last major pocket of resistance in Afghanistan. He said al-Qaida leaders may have been among the dead.

"We suspect some of them are gone," said Franks, the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

"We just don't know."

Franks said U.S. special operations forces were fighting in the frontlines in Tora Bora. He said he was not aware of any injuries to two U.S. soldiers, as had been reported out of Afghanistan.

Franks also revealed that John Walker, the American captured alongside the Taliban, had been moved from a Marine base in southern Afghanistan to a U.S. warship, the USS Peleliu, in the Arabian Sea. He said it had yet to be decided whether Walker's case would be handled through civil court or through a military tribunal.

"He is being treated the same way we would treat any enemy prisoner," Franks said.

"He's being treated well."

As for the al-Qaida prisoners, Franks said that they were in opposition hands but that they could be turned over to the Americans. Again, he said, they could be held in Afghanistan or offshore.

Because they were only taken into custody Friday, Franks said he did not know how many prisoners there were. He also said he did not know how many fighters remained in the region. It could be between 300 and 1,000, perhaps higher.

Franks, however, said he thought they were scattered throughout valley floors and fortified mountain caves and tunnels, alone or in pairs. "I can tell you a lot of people have lost their lives in these valleys in the al-Qaida pockets of resistance," he said.

In the past several days, there has been growing speculation that bin Laden is holed up in the Tora Bora region. The thinking among U.S. officials is why else would al-Qaida be putting up such a fight? Franks said that the al-Qaida fighters were short on water, food and ammunition. "We can wait longer than they can," he said. "And we'll wait until they're ours."

In Tora Bora, opposition forces also have recovered al-Qaida documents that could contain useful intelligence.

"We have taken a bunch of evidence," he said. "To be honest, I don't know if there are tapes. It's going to take quite a while to sift through."

While U.S. officials think bin Laden is Tora Bora , Franks said that because of the porous border, it's possible he could have crossed into Pakistan, or even into Kashmir, the disputed territory between India and Pakistan.

"I wouldn't suggest the probability that he has left the country," Franks said. "Certainly, it's a possibility."

"One receives all sorts of information indicating, perhaps, (bin Laden) remains in the Tora Bora area, perhaps in Pakistan," Franks said.

"We don't know what we don't know, but the focus of our effort right now is this pitched battle in the vicinity of Tora Bora."

While Taliban forces have been destroyed, Franks warned that much work remained. "I don't know if it will be one month. I don't know if it will be 20 months. We have to be sure to do what our president asked and what the world asked us to do, destroy the terrorist network.

"This will take as long as it takes," Franks said.