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Where's Wally?

Five years ago a man rode out of Afghanistan on the back of donkey headed for neighboring Pakistan and has never been seen since. He was fleeing the country in anticipation of the impending American invasion, which itself was a response to the attacks carried out on September 11 th 2001 that he claimed responsibility for. He is currently listed as the FBI's most wanted terrorist according to their website (a position he has held since July 1999), and a reward of $25,000,000 is offered for his capture. I am of course referring to Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi Arabian terrorist and figurehead of the Al-Queda network. The question is where is he, and why have the Americans, with all their military hardware and manpower, been completely unable to find him?

It is believed that Bin Laden is currently hiding out in Pakistan 's tribal belt, which is located in the North of the country and borders Afghanistan . The terrain in this region is notoriously difficult to navigate, featuring a large network of caves and tunnels, and the area is guarded by local Pashtoon tribesmen who have their own language, customs and laws above those of Pakistan , and as such do not welcome outsiders. He is supposedly being protected and assisted by a very small number of supporters in order to keep a low profile, and aside from releasing the occasional video via the Al Jazeera TV channel, he is no longer believed to be issuing direct orders to Al Queda.

Osama Bin Laden is described as a soft-spoken, mild mannered man, and despite his fondness for blowing things up, is said to be charming, polite, and respectful. This is most likely due to his upbringing in a very wealthy Saudi Arabian family with close connections to the monarchy. According to the news channel CNN, he is also near-fluent in the English language, all of which means he could quite easily fit in anywhere with an English-speaking Muslim community, for example the UK. I wouldn't be too shocked to find he is actually living in a council house in Oldham and working on the customer service desk at a local supermarket, it is certainly the last place the Americans would think to look for him.

The USA has effectively outsourced the capture of Bin Laden to the Pakistani army, and more specifically the ISI ( Pakistan 's Secret Service), partly because they want to make use of their expertise, but more importantly because they are more interested in the war in Iraq when it comes to troop deployment. If Bin Laden truly is America 's most wanted man, you would expect them to want the pleasure of capturing him personally, rather than simply having him flown into JFK at the earliest convenience.

In a recent interview, Pakistan 's President Pervez Musharaff expressed concerns about what could happen if his army were to capture Bin Laden. He acknowledged the sensitivity of the issue and the cult status that Bin Laden has achieved within segments of the Muslim community, and admitted that capturing him could de-stabilise the country. In a separate interview Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain, commander of antiterrorism operations, implied that he is not overly concerned with locating Bin Laden, saying: "Is it all that important to find him? Even if he's taken out tomorrow, his ideology is not going to come to an end".

From the point of view of Pakistan , the fact that Bin Laden is using their country as his hideout gives them elevated status from a global perspective, and allows them great leverage with the USA when it comes to military and economic aid. One is tempted to think that it would be foolish of them to search too hard for Bin Laden, as they would potentially be jeopardising billions of dollars in aid, not to mention the new fleet of F16 jets generously donated to their air force by the Americans.

It has been well documented over the last five years that the USA and Osama Bin Laden are not exactly strangers, in fact they were allies during the attempted Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Bin Laden was a key figure in the Afghan resistance against the Soviets, and the USA supported this resistance for the next ten years. Ironically enough, they helped him setup Islamic schools in Pakistan for Afghan refugees which later became training centres for Islamic radicals, such as those currently involved in Al Queda. This is extremely embarrassing for the USA , and echoes elements of the story of Frankenstein's Monster.

The truth is that while Bin Laden remains at large, he is slowly becoming insignificant on a global scale. Left to live out his remaining days in hiding, I expect he will simply wither away from the public consciousness and inevitably die, at which point the FBI will duly tick him off their list. If he was to be captured and made a martyr of, this would only serve to strengthen the resolve of his supporters, and would put him back on the front page of every newspaper in the civilised world. As long as there is enough pressure applied in Pakistan to ensure he can never become active and mobile again, then perhaps it's best to leave him in his cave.

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