- The United States has said that terrorist
mastermind Osama bin Laden is possibly alive and asserted that the war
against terrorism is more important than capturing the prime suspect in
September 11 attacks in America.
The US vice president Dick Cheney, referring to Pakistan President Gen
Pervez Musharraf's statement that Laden was probably dead as a result of
a kidney disease, said he was skeptical about it. "If he were dead,
there'd be more indications of it than we've seen. There'd be more noise
in the system about his demise and about the future of the organisation
if, in fact, he were no longer there," Cheney told Fox News on Sunday.
He said the ongoing crackdown against international terrorist network was
more important to the Bush administration than capturing Laden. "Osama
bin Laden himself isn't that big a threat. Laden (when) connected to this
worldwide organisation of terror is a threat. We're going to go after him,
but we're also after the network."
Asserting that the administration could prevent future attacks on the US
even if Laden was not apprehended, Cheney told ABC television network that
Laden was wanted only "because of what he did on 9/11." White
House chief of staff Andrew Card also said that the 'world's most wanted
man' was in all likelihood "alive".
"I happen to believe he's probably alive. We know he's on the run...and
we would get this evildoer," he said. The Bush administration was
aiming "not just to get bin Laden" but also to "defeat terrorism
wherever it is around the world," he added.
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