LONDON — Saudi fugitive billionaire Osama Bin Laden has reportedly escaped an
assassination attempt in Afghanistan.
Travellers arriving in Pakistan from western Afghanistan said Bin
Laden's convoy was attacked earlier this month in the southern Afghan
province of Qandahar. They said attackers fired rockets at the convoy and
one of the vehicles was damaged.
The Pakistani Frontier newspaper said Osama escaped and was taken to a
hideout. The attackers escaped and were not identified.
The newspaper said in August 1998 Osama survived a U.S. attack on his
base in the Afghan province of Khost Province. After the attempt, Bin Laden
limited his travels.
The United States has offered a $5 million for Bin Laden, charged with
masterminding the bombing of two U.S. embassies in east Africa in 1998.
On Monday, U.S. Today reported that U.S. intelligence agencies
have obtained a terrorism training guide used by Bin Laden. The guide, 1,000
pages long and written in Arabic, demonstrates the assembly of bombs and
recruitment of followers and is regarded as a guide for such organizations
as the Iranian-backed Hamas and Hizbullah.
In Islamabad, a Pakistani newspaper said the military has completed a
missile tipped with a nuclear warhead and a range of 2,500 kilometers. The
missile is called the Shaheen-2 and Samar Mubarik Mand, a prominent
Pakistani scientist, said the missile is ready for testing.
Mand, who oversees Pakistan's missile programs, denied that China and
North Korea were involved in the Shaheen's development.
