11.15am - By ANDREW BUNCOMBE
WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden evaded American forces at Tora Bora because of a simple ruse in which his bodyguard used a satellite phone to trick encroaching forces into believing the al Qaeda leader was not trying to escape, according to intelligence officials.
Officials from the Moroccan intelligence service have claimed bin Laden's bodyguard, a Moroccan called Abdallah Tabarak, continued to use the phone to make calls while the al Qaeda leader and a small group slipped away.
As a result, US and Afghan forces who had been electronically monitoring bin Laden's phone calls continued to believe he was still in the mountains, preparing to make a last stand.
A Moroccan official told the Washington Post: "He agreed to be captured or die. That's the level of his fanaticism for bin Laden. It wasn't a lot of time but it was enough. There is a saying 'Where there is a frog, the serpent is not far away'."
Mr Tabarak is currently being held with around 600 other alleged al Qaeda or Taleban fighters at Guantanamo Bay where he has reportedly emerged as the "emir" or camp leader for many of the prisoners. He is apparently not cooperating with the authorities and has organised a number of "fast days" though other prisoners have apparently revealed his role in bin Laden's escape.
Officials from Morocco who have interviewed Mr Tabarak, 43, at the US prison, say he continues to deny any involvement with al Qaeda, even though he was captured at Tora Bora with the satellite phone believed to belong to bin Laden. He was not immediately recognised when he was taken to Guantanamo Bay and it was only after the US authorities circulated pictures of him to various intelligence services that he was identified.
Officials say his closeness to bin Laden and his alleged involvement in his escape have helped him establish his authority at Guantanamo.
"He has charisma and all the combatants are deferential to him. He's very solid."
It is now generally accepted that bin Laden was holed up in the mountains of Tora Bora, in south-east Afghanistan, as American B-52 bombers led a ferocious campaign to finish off the al Qaeda leadership in late 2001.
It was initially thought he may have been killed by the bombing. But intelligence officials now believe it is most likely he and a small number of close aides slipped across the border of Pakistan into the remote and largely autonomous tribal areas near Parachinar.
In November last year, an audio cassette purporting to contain the voice of bin Laden talking about recent events, was handed to the al Jazeera network which broadcast it. While US officials said tests suggested the tape was genuine - indicating that bin Laden was still alive - other experts, most notably in Switzerland, have expressed doubts as to its authenticity.
- INDEPENDENT
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Bin Laden escaped Tora Bora using simple ruse: intelligence officials
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