‘Osama may be hiding in Pakistan’
February 18th, 2009 - 12:07 am ICT by IANSWashington, Feb 17 (IANS) Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist in the world, is likely to be hiding in a walled compound in a Pakistani border town, according to a satellite-aided geographic analysis released Tuesday.
A research team led by geographer Thomas Gillespie of the University of California-Los Angeles used geographic analytical tools that have been successful in locating urban criminals and endangered species.
Basing their conclusion on nighttime satellite images and other techniques, the scientists suggest Osama may well be in one of three compounds in Parachinar, a town 15 km from the Afghan border, the USA Today reported.
Parachinar is the capital of Khurram Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas, of Pakistan. It is about 290 km west of Islamabad and is situated on a neck of Pakistani territory south of Peshawar close to Afghanistan. Parachinar is the closest point in Pakistan to Kabul and borders on the Tora Bora region in Afghanistan.
The research incorporates public reports of Osama’s habits and whereabouts since his flight from the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in 2001.
Osama’s, the main accused behind 9/11 attacks in US, whereabouts are considered “one of the most important political questions of our time”, the study, reported in the MIT International Review, notes.
The study’s real value, Gillespie says, is in combining satellite records of geographic locations, patterns of nighttime electricity use and population-detection methods to produce a technique for locating fugitives.
The study also makes assumptions that Osama might need:
- Medical treatment, requiring electricity in an urban setting
- Security combining a few bodyguards and isolation that requires a walled compound
- Tree cover to shield outdoor activities from aircraft.
- Osama bin Laden was located in Pak's Abbottabad city: 2008 US study - May 04, 2011
- When Pakistan denied Osama was in Pakistan - May 02, 2011
- FBI is processing Osama-in-Pakistan hypothesis - Feb 22, 2009
- Pakistan rejects claim of Osama Bin Laden hiding inside its territory - Feb 25, 2009
- Al Qaeda leaders were in Karachi on 9/11: WikiLeaks - Apr 25, 2011
- A courier finally led to Osama: New York Times - May 02, 2011
- Pakistan launches military offensive against militants - Jul 04, 2011
- New stealth drones flew into Pakistan to see Osama house - May 18, 2011
- Osama's will forbade his children from jihad, wives from remarrying - May 04, 2011
- First wife Najwa was Osama's only love match: Biographer - Jun 22, 2011
- Bin Laden's driver pleads guilty at Guantanamo - Jul 08, 2010
- Bin Laden, deputy, living in luxury in northwest Pak protected by ISI: NATO official - Oct 18, 2010
- Countdown to Osama's end - May 02, 2011
- Osama bin Laden's cook sent to 14 years in prison - Aug 12, 2010
- Osama must have moved to Abbottabad recently: Pakistani envoy - May 02, 2011
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