Nearly 10 years after the traumatic Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon, the world's most wanted terrorist leader Osama bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan.
12: 35 pm: Remember when Osama died of 'kidney failure'?: Yesterday, former President Pervez Musharraf spent a lot of time in serial statements that aimed to make him all things to all people. Thus, he spoke of what a bad man Osama was, and how his killing was a victory for Pakistan as much as it was for America -- clearly aiming that statement at the international community, among which he still projects the image of a moderate man at odds with the militant side of Islam. Almost immediately thereafter, in another statement, he criticized the operation itself as an invasion of Pakistan's sovereignty, and said if he were president he would never have permitted it -- a statement clearly aimed at the domestic constituency, given that a majority of Pakistanis are none too happy about US military adventures on their soil (Oh, in passing, Musharraf might need reminding that his successor, Asif Ali Zardari, did not quite "permit" the US operation in Abbottabad that led to Osama's death -- he was merely told about it after the fact).
Against that background, this article dating back to 2002 is worth revisiting -- remember how Musharraf was claiming, at the time, that Osama was already dead of 'kidney failure'? Seymour Hersh, in a compelling article, talks of the US-backed airlift by Pakistan of its various elements in Afghanistan -- and how that airlift provided cover for Musharraf to get many Taliban out of harm's way. Read on
12: 32 pm: The 'we-knew-we-didn't' tamasha continues in Pakistan. The US raid against Osama in Abbottabad was 'not a joint operation', Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has admitted in a signed article published in the Washington Post. Zardari says his country is "perhaps the world's greatest victim of terrorism", and is satisfied that "the source of the greatest evil of the new millennium has been silenced." All very well. So what were you doing while this "source of the greatest evil" was enjoying a happy family life in your backyard, sir?
12: 15 pm: The in-joke among the Pakistan military-political establishment was that Osama bin Laden was 'al-Faida' -- a perennial source of profit, thanks to the millions the US continued to dole out annually to Pakistan in exchange for their "help" in hunting down the al Qaeda leader and other wanted terrorists. Since 2001, Pakistan got $19.6 billion in US aid, including $13.3 billion under 'security' heads. Why then would it not make sense for Pakistan to ensure that Osama bin Laden was safe and secure? And why would it not make sense for Pakistan to ensconce the wanted al Qaeda chief right in the middle of an area packed with military establishments, rather on the lines of Edgar Allan Poe's famed short story 'The Purloined Letter', where the key epistle is hidden in plain sight?
This is what Nitin Pai muses on, in his latest column on Y! Opinions. What he concludes is that (a) It was next to impossible for the US to have located Osama without a bit of help from Pakistan; (b) that Pakistan had a very good reason for providing that help and (c), finally, that the killing of Osama is cue for the end game -- and that game will be played out in Afghanistan. Read
12: 12 pm: Pakistan authorities are interrogating a woman found in Osama's Abbottabad mansion. She speaks some English, and could reveal how long Osama and his family had been in Pakistan, an official told Dawn newspaper. Details here.
11: 37 am: 'Abbottabad killing will help Al Qaeda': Osama bin Laden's death is a gift to Al Qaeda, which will turn him into a martyr and grow even bigger, an analysis in The Hindu concludes. Pravin Swami, diplomatic editor of The Telegraph, writes in the Chennai-based paper, "Even as America, and many others across the world, celebrate the killing of a man who more than any other came to represent evil, there is in fact little reason for jubilation. The stark truth is this: a decade after 9/11, the jihadist movement is more powerful than at any time in the past. The small group bin Laden built in Afghanistan has flowered."
11: 34 am: Sourav Ganguly back in IPL, joins Pune Warriors. "We decided that the amount of experience that Sourav has in cricket will no doubt help the team. So we finalised Ganguly last night," Pune Warriors Director Abhijit Sarkar said. Full article here
11: 22 am: Arunachal Pradesh CM Dorjee Khandu is missing for the fourth day today. With some leads from ISRO, around 3,000 security personnel are scouting the Sela Pass for possible wreckage of the chopper. Aerial search operations were cancelled after bad weather persists. More here
11: 13 am: Flying Low: The Air India pilot's strike is into its seventh day, and neither side seems prepared to budge an inch. Or at least, as far as the pilots are concerned, they seem prepared to move the goalposts around from day to day. They had first asked for a raise; then they said they wanted a CBI inquiry into corruption within the AI management. Last heard from, they want the management to re-recognize the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (which the AI management had de-recognized on day two of the strike); they want three sacked pilots who are key members of the union reinstated, and if these two things are done they will report for work, maybe. The Delhi High Court is, today, hearing the case filed by the management against the pilots, and some clarity should emerge. We hope.
11: 11 am: THE OSAMA BIN LADEN SPECIAL
11:00 am: Al Qaeda had threatened a 'nuclear hellstorm' if Osama was killed. The target, according to some analysts, was to be London. So should the world gear up for nuclear terrorism now? A publication called the International Business Times is sceptical. It details how senior al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had spoken about a nuclear bomb hidden in Europe that would be detonated if Osama was captured or killed. But it is convinced many such 'confessions' were obtained through torture at Guantanamo Bay, and could be false. Read the analysis here.
10: 36 am: It's now a PR battle out there. The US hasn't decided whether it will release pictures and footage of Osama's corpse, but is letting it known that the terror mastermind tried to hide behind women when the US commandos confronted him. One of the women he used as a shield died, the US counter-terrorism chief has just told reporters.
10: 28 am: Iraqis reacted with joy and some skepticism to the news of Osama's death.
10:04 am: Osama was codenamed Geronimo, and a stonefaced American president Barrack Obama waited to hear the words 'Geronimo EKIA' (or Osama, enemy killed in action) while the Abbottabad operation was on, it has just been revealed. Details here
9: 15 am: The CIA isn't going to sit back in satisfaction after the killing of Osama, its chief indicated late last night. Leon Panetta, director of the American intelligence agency, warned that Al Qaeda without Osama bin Laden was still dangerous. "The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him, and we must - and will - remain vigilant and resolute," Panetta has written to his employees. More details here.
9:02 am: CNN IBN reports Osama was shot in the head first and then on his chest. US officials say that he didn't retaliate when his mansion was being ambushed and the woman who died during the operations is not Osama's wife, as initial reports said.
8: 50 am: Today is the fourth phase in the West Bengal elections. 63 constituencies including Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapur will vote.
8: 37 am: Even as the world rejoices, Pakistan is losing steam over questioned arising from his death. The US says Pakistan knew he was in the country. However, the people of Pakistan are angry over the government's silence over these allegations.
8: 30 am: Osama may have avoided capture for over ten years. But what was it that gave him away in the end? Ironically, it was the absence of a telephone or internet connection at his mansion in Abbotabad, Pakistan that raised suspicions.
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