Dragnet: Allied fleet combs Gulf for Al Qaida fugitives



SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, February 19, 2002
ABU DHABI — A Western naval force of 45 warships has blocked the Persian Gulf in an attempt to prevent Al Qaida insurgents from relocating to the Middle East.

The force is composed of ships from countries such as Britain, Canada, France and the United States. These navies are monitoring all traffic from Iran and Iraq through the Straits of Hormuz.

Hundreds of agents loyal to Osama Bin Laden are said to have escaped Afghanistan via Iran and many of them escaped west toward the Levant and North Africa aboard merchant ships leaving from Bandar Abbas, according to Middle East Newsline.

The international force is divided into various roles. The French fleet is involved in naval and submarine traffic. The United States is responsible for the actual search of suspicious ships. At the same time, troops from Germany, Kuwait and the United States have launched an exercise in the sheikdom to train for the prospect of an Iraqi nonconventional attack.

Capt. Olivier Lajous, commander of the French missile frigate De Grasse, told a news conference that so far the force has not caught Al Qaida or Afghan Taliban suspects. Instead, the force has seized illegal weapons found in suspicious vessels in the Oman Sea.

"There are fugitives lying low in Pakistan and Iran, looking for an opportunity to escape capture," Lajous said in his briefing on the De Grasse, anchored outside the Qatari capital of Doha. "We don't want to give them a chance."

The Western-led search, which has been supported by several Gulf Arab allies, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is focusing on Taliban and Al Qaida leaders. Conflicting reports have circulated over their whereabouts and on Tuesday the London-based Al Hayat daily quoted Taliban sources as saying Bin Laden, his chief deputy, Ayman Zawahiri and Taliban chief Mullah Omar are alive and well.