Sparking Bin Laden's Capture?

February 16, 2000 - The United States has taken its campaign to arrest suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden to the people of Pakistan -- at least to those who smoke.

In the frontier city of Peshawar on the border with Afghanistan, matchboxes began circulating Wednesday with a picture of the Saudi exile accompanied by an Urdu-language message: Reward for Osama bin Laden.

The matchbox message, sponsored by the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, promised confidentiality for any informer. It also carried a misprint in the reward, offering $500,000 instead of the $5 million announced by Washington.

Washington accuses bin Laden of masterminding the twin bombings of its embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998. Bin Laden has denied involvement in the bombings.

He lives in Afghanistan, across the border from Peshawar, under the protection of the Taliban religious militia, which rules roughly 90 percent of that war-weary nation.

The Taliban say bin Laden is a guest and Afghan culture and tradition demands he be protected.

The United States has banned all trade with and investment in Taliban-ruled areas. Last November the United Nations imposed limited sanctions on the Taliban, barring international flights by their national airlines and freezing their overseas accounts.

In addition to the matchbox ads, there were also reports of 100 rupee notes -- worth about $2 -- being circulated with a Pashtu-language message stamped on them announcing the U.S. reward.

The reward, announced several months ago, also offers possible asylum or relocation to anyone with information leading to bin Laden's arrest.

The Taliban have offered to allow international observers monitor bin Laden's movements in Afghanistan, or to try him in an Islamic court presided over by judges from three Islamic countries.

Washington has refused.

By Kathy Gannon
©2000 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed