Washington - Geographers at a California university believe
they may have succeeded at a task that has eluded the highest levels
of US intelligence and espionage agencies: They think they know
where Osama bin Laden is hiding.
Using satellite imagery and geographic principles, scientists at
the Univeristy of California, Los Angeles, have concluded that bin
Laden is most likely hiding in one of three buildings in a small
Pakistani town called Parachinar, not far from the Afghan border.
The geographic analysis also included population-detection
methods, amount of available electricity, information on where bin
Laden has been spotted since going into hiding in 2001 and even the
alleged terrorist leader's height.
'If he's still alive, he honestly could be sitting there right
now,' said Thomas Gillespie, the lead author of the study released
Tuesday and an associate professor at UCLA.
'It is still the safest tribal area and city in the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas of northwest Pakistan and one of the only
tribal areas that the US has not bombed with its unmanned
Predators,' he added.
Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, are remote Pakistani
mountainous regions over which the government in Islamabad
exercises little control. The region has also been used as refuge
for Taliban militants and al-Qaeda operatives fighting US and NATO
forces in Afghanistan, and is frequently mentioned as a potential
location for bin Laden.
The geographers said the three compounds in Parachinar are
surrounded by walls and the buildings are spacious enough to
accommodate the fugitive's above average height. He would also need
electricity for the reported dialysis treatment he requires, the
study said.
Gillespie urged US authorities to investigate the buildings soon,
warning that if the Taliban gains control of the much larger city of
Peshawar, bin Laden could opt to move there, where it would be much
more difficult to find him.
'It's the difference between looking for someone in LA versus Big
Bear,' Gillespie said, referring to the small mountain resort town
east of Los Angeles.
USA
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