Mulla Omar closes phone on Afghan agents

[DoYouEverWonder]

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_9-7-2004_pg1_8

July 9, 2004

KABUL: Afghan intelligence agents have spoken with fugitive Taliban founder Mulla Omar after commandeering a satellite phone being used by his top aide, an Afghan official claimed on Thursday. Mulla Omar, along with Osama Bin Laden, has escaped a US-led dragnet which now numbers some 20,000 coalition soldiers since the ousting of his fundamentalist regime in late 2001. A man believed to be Omar?s aide, Mulla Sakhi Dad Mujahid, was captured on Tuesday while carrying a satellite telephone containing the phone numbers of top Taliban, Kandahar intelligence chief Abdullah Laghmanai told AFP. ?We contacted Mulla Omar by Mulla Mujahid?s phone,? he said, adding that at first Mujahid was forced to talk. ?But when Omar realised what was happening ... he cut off the phone.? ?Salam-aleikum, where are you?? Mulla Omar asked Mujahid, according to Laghmanai. Mulla Mujahid, as he is known locally, was arrested on Tuesday during a raid in Dara-i-Noor near Kandahar. afp


Jeez, when will these terrorists learn not to program everyones' phone numbers into their satellite phones?

[0007]

1. Why does this story smell?

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. Some more info from the Dawn

http://www.dawn.com/2004/07/09/top14.htm

Afghan intelligence officials talk to Mullah Omar

<snip>

"We contacted Mullah Omar by Mullah Mujahid's phone," he said, adding that at first Mullah Mujahid was forced to talk to his boss on the phone. "But when he (Omar) realized the situation ... he cut off the phone."

"Salam-aleikum, where are you?" Mullah Omar asked Mullah Mujahid, according to Mr Laghmanai, who did not say when the call was made. Mullah Mujahid, as he is known locally, was arrested on Tuesday during a raid in Dara-i-Noor, some 70kms north of Kandahar.

The area is in the rugged border region between Uruzgan and Kandahar and known to US military officials as the 'Taliban heartland'. Mullah Mujahid served as Mullah Omar's secretary under the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule.

<snip>

Mr Laghmanai said subsequent efforts to contact Mullah Omar had been unsuccessful as the one-eyed Taliban boss refuses to answer phone calls 'from strange numbers'.

"Maybe Omar has found out that his friend is under our control," he said. "He doesn't answer his telephone." Mullah Mujahid was transferred in handcuffs to Kabul on Wednesday for investigation, which authorities hope could lead to the arrest of other militants.

Mr Laghmanai alleged that intelligence reports as well as information received from Mujahid suggested Mullah Omar was hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas near Kandahar and close to Quetta. "The information Mujahid provided, and also our intelligence, suggests that Omar is in Pakistan's tribal areas," he said.

[Jerseygirltoo]

3. Those damn telemarketers

Mr Laghmanai said subsequent efforts to contact Mullah Omar had been unsuccessful as the one-eyed Taliban boss refuses to answer phone calls 'from strange numbers'.

Same here, especially while I'm eating dinner.

[Alpharetta]

4. I call B.S. too

Omar now "refuses to answer calls from strange numbers" ?

That's a crock. They are implying he's still accepting calls from his friends and family?

He's not that stupid. He knows not to leave his phone powered up and traceable. He probably passed his phone to a migrant.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. The whole story is a bit bizarre

I mean, you capture a high level operative with a satellite phone and what do you do?

Instead of tracing the phone number and trying to get a fix on the phones location, or even just listen in for a few weeks to find out what the guy is up to, these turkeys just blow their whole cover, call him up directly and start talking to him? Sounds more like the Keystone Cops and not highly trained Special Ops guys.

[daleo]

7. They probably don't want to catch him

If this story is true, it seems to show that Afghanis are only going along with the U.S. to a limited extent. It sounds like their actions were meant to tip him off to the fact that the satellite phone had been captured.

Of course, the fact that this is in a newspaper makes it all the more suspicious - disinformation, etc.

[geek tragedy]

9. Of course he takes calls from friends and family.

He's on the "friends and family" calling plan.

Seriously, did they think this was an episode of Crank-Yankers.

[htuttle]

10. How long do you think it would take to get a new sat-phone in Peshawar?

I'm thinking it would take at LEAST 15-20 minutes.

[underpants]

5. Damn telemarketers

They can find ANYBODY!

[democracy eh]

8. This is Haliburton Telecom...

"You have a collect call from.... Osams
Will you accept the charges?