The New York Times-20080127-Searching for Osama Bin Laden - Jan- 20-26

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Searching for Osama Bin Laden / Jan. 20-26

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THE NEWS American-backed Sunni militias have been hit by a wave of attacks, which spiked after the release of an audio recording last month in which Osama bin Laden called the tribesmen traitors and infidels.

BEHIND THE NEWS The militias, part of the Awakening movement, have fought Sunni extremists to a standstill in some of Iraq's bloodiest battlegrounds and are one of the reasons for the precipitous drop in civilian and military fatalities since July, American military officials say. American and Iraqi officials blame Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia for most of the 100 or so killings and worry that the onslaught may jeopardize the recent relative security.

THE NEWS President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan told reporters last week that the fact that Mr. bin Laden remains at large doesn't mean much to him.

BEHIND THE NEWS Mr. bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, both with $25 million bounties on their heads, have eluded capture for more than six years and are believed to be hiding in remote tribal areas on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, where the entrenched Taliban-linked militants are Mr. Musharraf's bigger concern. The 100,000 troops that we are using ... are not going around trying to locate Osama bin Laden and Zawahri, frankly, he said. But if they are caught, he added, we will deal with them certainly.

THE NEWS About 2,000 questions posted to online message boards set up by Al Qaeda are awaiting answers from Mr. Zawahri, bin Laden's deputy.

BEHIND THE NEWS Mr. Zawahri said last month that he would answer questions in an online interview. No answers have been posted yet, though Al Qaeda said he would eventually respond. Rita Katz, head of the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist jihadist Web sites, told National Public Radio that many interesting questions were about what is the most important thing they should be doing today. She added, a lot of questions were about the United States and why we haven't seen an attack in the United States.

THE NEWS Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden, a film by director Morgan Spurlock, had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

BEHIND THE NEWS Mr. Spurlock, who ate only McDonald's food for a month for his 2004 film, Super Size Me, interviewed journalists, religious leaders and others in search of Mr. bin Laden. But he stopped when got to the Pakistan tribal areas where Mr. bin Laden is thought to be hiding. There are so many different pieces that make up the puzzle that cause this guy to exist, that by the time we got to the border ... I said, 'You know what, there's such a better place for me to be right now.' And that was back home.

THE NEWS Omar bin Laden, one of Mr. bin Laden's sons, did a round of television interviews, calling his father a very kind man who wants peace.

BEHIND THE NEWS The younger bin Laden owns a construction company in Saudi Arabia. He said he hoped to become an ambassador for peace and urged world leaders to meet with his father to find a middle ground. Omar, who is 26, said he last saw his father at a Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in 2000. He has been promoting a horse race across North Africa to advance peace, an equine version of the famous Dakar Rally for cars. That race was canceled recently because of threats from groups linked to Al Qaeda.

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