Afghanistan Hopeful That Pakistan is Narrowing in on Usama Bin Laden

Afghanistan Hopeful That Pakistan is Narrowing in on Usama Bin Laden

by Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, and Geraldo Rivera
Fox News - Hannity and Colmes
March 10, 2003
[transcript]

HANNITY: And thank you for all of your support. And one woman who marched with her peace organization on Saturday, well she didn't have a very peaceful day. She was arrested. She'll be here; she'll talk about it.

And not all celebrities are on the anti-war bandwagon. Country music superstar and singer, Darryl Worley, he's going to be here. He's going to sing his new song that honors our men and women in the military. Believe it or not, there are some country stations and advisors or consultants that don't want to play that song.

It will break your heart. We'll play that for you.

First, we have our war correspondent, Gerald Rivera. He joins us with a report. He's live from Kabul, Afghanistan. Come on, give me good news. He's on the run, we're going to get Usama bin Laden.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS WAR CORRESPONDENT: The Pakistanis say just hours away. We'll see. We'll see, Sean.

It's a tough situation. You never know. You never know if the Pakistani intelligence is giving you the four-by-four or not. But here in Afghanistan, there are a lot of things that are weighing heavily on the minds of people.

You've got Iraq, the Afghan government really right now focused on the reaction from that, even as the pace picks up in their own war on terror. They are worried about resources being diverted from the fight against al Qaeda. They are worried just as much about keeping the world focused on the very tough job of rebuilding this war-ravaged nation.

To address those concerns, Sean and Alan, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, on Monday -- it's already Tuesday here -- but on Monday, Afghanistan time, began an extraordinary conference. Attending were his ambassadors, all of the Afghan ambassadors urgently summoned home by their president for a two-day meeting here aimed at tightening the reigns, speaking with one voice on what's happening in Iraq, reconfirming, as the president said, that "The fight against terror is the core of our national policy."

And now to the news from that fight, it's been dominating every single conversation here recently. Certainly with the bust of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed energizing everyone to this tantalizing possibility that Pakistani intelligence is indeed closing in on Usama bin Laden, the terror mastermind that helped to lead this country to ruin. And the more that's disclosed about the circumstances of the arrest of Khalid and others, including two more foreigners on Monday, the more that proves to the Afghans that their neighbor to the south, Pakistan, remains the hotbed of whatever remains of al Qaeda.

Also on their minds, the rumors of the arrests of bin Laden's sons in the remote southwestern corner of this country. Those rumors unfortunately remain disappointingly unconfirmed. President Karzai also spoke at that conference about the need to continue rebuilding this country, telling his ambassadors to remind their host nations that before Afghanistan became the first victim in the international terror war, this nation was economically self-sufficient.

And on Monday, very busy day, in the midst of his very heavy security. I was delighted that President Karzai stopped for a brief chat. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERA: As the United States approaches this war with Iraq, what is your biggest concern?

HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN PRESIDENT: Well, my concern is that, first of all, I hope there will not be a war in Iraq. I hope that the people of Iraq will have a government of their choice and will be free of oppression that they are facing now.

Secondly, if there is a war in Iraq, I would very much want the world, and particularly the United States, to stay very, very focused on Afghanistan. We must -- we have won the war here in Afghanistan. We must absolutely make sure to win the peace to the total and to continue to fight against terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERA: The Afghans want to be an example of how unselfish the United States has shown (ph). And, Alan, they say they are proof that we didn't come here as selfish conquerors but rather as liberators, asking nothing but friendship from the Afghan people. They also want us to help finally nab this SOB, and they are optimistic on both counts, I must say. Back to you guys.

HANNITY: Why are they so optimistic? There have been reports here in the states, Geraldo, that the CIA found a caravan and that they were following this and they thought there was a very strong possibility Usama could be a part of it. Reports that they got a lot of intelligence information with the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

Why are they so optimistic? What are they telling you the reason? What is the reason for their optimism?

RIVERA: Let's listen -- let me tell you what the ISI, the Pakistani secret police, said yesterday. In their first ever public briefing for the foreign media, they said they were months behind Usama. Then they were weeks, then days. And now they think they may be hours behind Usama bin Laden.

Let's take them at their word. Certainly we're getting everyone around this guy. Now I'm not sure I share the optimism about the imminence of a bust, Sean, but I tell you, he's losing friends fast.

COLMES: What do we know, Geraldo, about his sons? We heard that they were -- first I heard killed, then I heard captured. Then I heard, no, they weren't captured. What's the true story?

RIVERA: You know, I wish I could tell you, Alan. It's hard to get true stories out of the people who are engaged in these deep, dark operations. Some say that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed wasn't arrested last week at all, for example, but that they have had him in custody for several weeks and kind of created the circumstances of this arrest (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a week and a half ago.

They showed some video purporting to be of the arrest yesterday. And the foreign journalists looking at it laughed and said this is baloney, this is a reconstruction.

I think it's very possible, Alan, that they do have one or more of the sons of Usama bin Laden. That report leaked out, a provincial governor saying, you know, that they had him. Then retracting.

It's quite possible that they did indeed get the guy or both of them, and now they are telling another story in hopes of grabbing Mr. Big, their father, Usama bin Laden. So it's hard to get the right story, the true skinny, until someone goes to collect the reward, which someone has done now, the $27 million on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's head.

HANNITY: Hey, Geraldo, I listened very closely to your interview with the new president of Afghanistan. And I want the know, I sensed a fear in his voice that we will not be paying as much attention to Afghanistan. He even said as much. But at the sense of fear that I got out of him, are there any signs that the Taliban is reorganizing, that they will represent a threat to his regime, or maybe al Qaeda is gaining some new strength there since our resources have been focused elsewhere?

RIVERA: It's more the focus than the resources. What he worries about is his need to extend the authority of the central government to the far reaches of this country. Right now you still have this conglomeration of warlords, provincial governors, the drug trade is coming back up big time.

He needs help. He needs the United States as kind of a big brother. And what he fears is that we will be distracted, that this whole international debate should we or should we not go after Saddam and the Iraqi government, is really deflecting what -- this is a country in intensive care recovery right now, and the last thing they need is the emergency doctors to be running off to another war or to another hospital.

HANNITY: All right. Geraldo in Kabul, Afghanistan. Geraldo, we'll be watching closely. Thanks for a great report. And we'll see you back here soon.

RIVERA: OK, buddy.

HANNITY: And we've heard the term "code red" and "code orange," but what is Code Pink? What's that all about? Well, we'll tell you about it. That's coming up after the break.

Also Bill Kristol, he's going to be here. He's going to talk about his new book, "The War Over Iraq." That's coming up in the next half-hour.

And country singer Darryl Worley has written a new song in honor of our men and women in the military. He's going to be here to sing it for you. And we'll also ask the question, why are some people not wanting it to be played on the radio? It's a great song. It's all coming up.

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