WEDNESDAY,MAY 8,2002
WORLD NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9A
Soldiers search graves for bin Laden
The Associated Press
BAGRAM, Afghanistan — Canadian troops and U.S. Army forensic specialists excavated 23 elaborate graves they said held the bodies of al-Qaida fighters — believed to be Osama bin Laden's bodyguards — who died in the bombing of the Tora Bora region.
The graves, dug into a hill, were decorated with mounds of white pebbles, flags and brightly colored ribbons, said Capt. Philip Nicholson, one of about 400 Canadian soldiers who returned to base yesterday after a four-day mission in eastern Afghanistan.
Hesaid there were no indication that the al-Qaida leader had been in one of the graves. Forensics experts from the U.S. Army's criminal investigation department collected DNA samples from the corpses unearthed at Ali Khyay, about 60 miles southeast of the capital, Kabul, said U.S. military spokesman Maj. Bryan Hilerty.
Canadian battalion commander Lt. Col. Pat Stogran said DNA samples had been taken from two other bodies found on a nearby mountain ridge. He said
the samples would be handed over to American experts.
Osama bin Laden was thought to have been at Tora Bora in December during an intense U.S. bombing campaign that was backed by Afghan ground troops and U.S. special forces. It's not known if bin Laden died there or escaped.
"Certainly there was the possibility that bin Laden was among them, that's why we proceeded with the excavation," said Nicholson.
One prominent grave was initially thought to be that of bin Laden, but visual inspection of the body showed it was not the al-Qaida leader.
"It was hard to identify anybody," Nicholson said, adding the bodies were badly decayed and that many had shrapnel wounds. "Osama bin Laden is approximately 6 foot 5 and we did not find anybody that was 6 foot 5. That being said, we did take DNA samples and they are going back to the United States to be analyzed."
Canadian troops discovered the graves when they went to Ali Khyayle to search caves and
bunkers and villagers told them about the bodies, Stogran said. The villagers said the graves contained the bodies of important al-Oaida members.
"We believe these were bin Laden's lieutenants, his personal bodyguards," Nicholson said.
Stogran said dozens of other al-Qaida fighters had been killed in the valley during last year's bombing but "the ones that we actually exhumed were treated in a special manner by the local people and that led us to believe that these were perhaps more important members of the al-Qaida."
Stogran said the graves were surrounded by electric lights to illuminate them at night.
"The locals told us ... one of them was a very big man and he had received special treatment during his burial," Stogran said.
After the U.S. bombings ended in mid-December, local Taliban officials ordered villagers to give the bodies a proper Islamic burial, Nicholson said. Villagers said the corpses were all Arabs and were buried in a ceremony Dec. 30 attended by 750 to 1,000 people.
Suicide attack kills at least15 Israelis
The Associated Press
RISHON LETZION, Israel — A suicide attack shattered a pool hall in this Israeli city late yesterday, killing more than 15 people and wounding at least 60, police said.
The explosion occurred at 11:03 p.m., as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was meeting in Washington with President Bush.
A police spokesman told Israel TV at least 15 people were killed in the attack 10 miles south of Tel Aviv.
AlManarTVin Lebanon said it received a claim of responsibility from the Islamic militant group Hamas.
Hamas spokesman Mahmoud
Zahar said from his home in Gaza City that he could not confirm the claim, but "if it is a martyrdom operation, it means that Israel has lost its war against the Palestinians and the Palestinian resistance has proved that it is capable of reaching the enemy everywhere."
Since the current round of Israeli-Palestinian violence erupted in September 2000, there have been nearly 60 suicide bombings.
The last suicide attack came on April 12 when a bomber blew herself up at a bus stop in Jerusalem, killing six people. That attack came with Secretary of State Colin Powell in the region trying to arrange an end to the violence.
David Baker, an official at the
prime minister's office, called yesterday night's explosion "another murderous attack against Israelis."
The blast went off at a three-story building in the heart of the industrial section of Rishon Letzion, a city that is home to some 100,000 people. Part of the ceiling on the top floor collapsed. A sign outside read "Sheffield Club, snooker, cafereria."
Meir Nitzan, the mayor of Rishon Letzion, said more than 60 people had been taken to hospitals.
Yeruham Mandola, a spokesman with the Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom, said part of the three-story building had collapsed. "Some of the wounded are trapped in the building," he said.
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