Bin Laden is as tough to catch as the Fakir of Ippi

[dArKeR]

AFP , ISLAMABAD
Monday, Apr 26, 2004,Page 4

James Spain, in his book `The Pathan Borderland'

In the annals of British colonial history one can find an unpromising precedent for the massive manhunt for Osama bin Laden that is now underway along the rugged border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The homelands of Pakistan's proud Pashtun tribesmen were also the scene of a 24-year hunt for another Islamic firebrand, the Fakir of Ippi -- who died in his bed, a free man, in 1960.

The fruitless search for the Fakir is recalled with unease by Western defense attaches now advising governments on how to catch the world's most wanted man in Pakistan's tribal borderlands.

The Fakir of Ippi was a Pashtun tribal leader, who led rebellions against British troops from a cave on the border of Afghanistan in what is now Pakistan's mountainous Waziristan district.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/04/26/2003138145

[ugarte]

1. The Fakir of Ippi never met the Faker of Crawford

n/t

[oblivious]

2. Has anyone thought of checking Crawford?

I mean, what's the use of having family friends in high places if you can't ask for a favour from time to time.