With US forces closing in on him during the battle of Tora Bora in late 2001, Osama bin Laden employed a simple trick against sophisticated American spy technology to vanish into the mountains that led to Pakistan and sanctuary, according to high-ranking Moroccan officials, cited by The Washington Post.
In its Tuesday edition, the Post reported that a Moroccan who was one of the Al Qaeda leader’s longtime bodyguards took possession of bin Laden’s satellite phone on the assumption that US intelligence agencies were monitoring it to get a fix on their position, said the officials, who have interviewed the bodyguard, Abdallah Tabarak.
Tabarak moved away from Osama bin Laden and his entourage as they escaped. The bodyguard continued to use the phone in an effort to divert the Americans and allow bin Laden to escape. Tabarak was captured at Tora Bora in possession of the phone, according to officials.
"He agreed to be captured or die," a Moroccan official said of Tabarak. "That's the level of his fanaticism for bin Laden. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was enough”.
Over a year later, Tabarak, 43, has established himself as the “camp leader” of the more than 600 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members being held at Guantanamo Bay, according to senior officials in Morocco. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
