Judge: Bin Laden Has No Time for al-Qaida

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The Guardian
Friday October 15, 2004 4:46 PM


By VERENA VON DERSCHAU

Associated Press Writer

MONACO (AP) - Osama bin Laden is unable to order operations from his hideout near the rugged Pakistani-Afghan border and spends all his time trying to evade capture, one of Europe's top anti-terrorism officials said Friday.

Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, who has indicted 41 suspected al-Qaida members, also told a conference on crime the threat of terrorism has not dissipated despite bin Laden's isolation and even harder-line groups have emerged that can direct attacks on their own.

Garzon did not offer proof that bin Laden, mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, was unable to direct terror operations, but said all indications pointed that way for the world's most hunted man.

``As things stand today, with the pressure being exerted against this person and the leadership of al-Qaida, it would be hard to believe that he could still be operational and capable of giving orders,'' Garzon said.
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