London, June 15 : US President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House.
US President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House.
Defence and intelligence sources in Washington and London confirmed that a renewed hunt was on for the leader of the 9/11 attacks, The Times reported.
Delta, the US army special operations unit, and the British SBS are undertaking the main operations in Pakistan against Bin Laden.
"If he (Bush) can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured Bin Laden, he can claim to have left the world a safer place," said a US intelligence source.
Bush arrives in Britain today on the final leg of his eight-day farewell tour of Europe. He will have tea with the Queen and dinner with Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah before holding a private meeting with Brown at No 10 tomorrow and flying on to Northern Ireland.
The Special Boat Service (SBS) and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment have been taking part in the US-led operations to capture Bin Laden in the wild frontier region of northern Pakistan. It is for the first time that the SBS have operated across the Afghan border on a regular basis.
The hunt was "completely sanctioned" by the Pakistani Government, according to a UK special forces source.
It involves the use of Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles fitted with Hellfire missiles that can be used to take out specific terrorist targets.
America rarely acknowledges the use of Predator and Reaper drones, but the most recent known strike was on a suspected al-Qaeda safe house in the Pakistani province of North Waziristan earlier in June. Villagers said the house was empty.
Intelligence on the whereabouts of Bin Laden is sketchy, but some analysts believe he is in the Bajaur tribal zone in northwest Pakistan.
He has evaded capture for nearly seven years. "Bush is swinging for the fences in the hope of scoring a home run," said an intelligence source.
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