PHOENIX — Osama bin Laden has been captured after spending nearly a week lost in the desert, Air Force officials said in a press conference today. Mr. bin Laden, who is the head of the al-Qaeda international terrorist network, was attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico when he became disoriented, apparently due to the lack of any cities, roads, or other easily identifiable landmarks. He is currently being held at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix, Arizona.
According to Brig. Gen. Noel T. "Tom" Jones, Mr. bin Laden's journey seems to have begun when he and an accomplice, Sheikh José al-Mazatlani, arrived in the seaside town of Golfo de Santa Clara from points unknown. They then set out north, but quickly became lost in the featureless sands. After they ran out of food on Saturday, they realized that they had no choice but to summon help, so Mr. bin Laden detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) that he had brought along "just to be on the safe side". A fighter pilot training over the Barry M. Goldwater range saw the plume of smoke, and a rescue team was dispatched. Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Mazatlani were taken into custody without incident. They were approximately 10 miles north of the border at the time.
"It's really lucky that I noticed the plume way off on the horizon," said the fighter pilot, Airman Theodore Blat. "If I hadn't, they probably would have starved. It's a pretty unforgiving area. There's no way anyone would have ever found the bodies, and we'd have ended up searching through Afghanistan and Pakistan for him forever."
Al-Qaeda officials were unavailable for comment.
Via SNN.
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2 comments:
CNN just did a streamer that he was trying to make his way to Sonoma, Ca to a safe house.
But...but....I thought we were fighting them over there so we wouldn't have to fight them over here!!!!
Dang those wiley tarrrris'!
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