Bin Laden Spotted in Afghanistan?

The intelligence community may finally have a beat on Osama bin Laden. A detainee in Pakistan who claims he met bin Laden numerous times before 9/11 says that in January or February of this year he encountered a trusted contact, a Mehsud tribesman responsible for arranging meetings between Bin Laden and foreign operatives. His contact had seen bin Laden 15 to 20 days earlier across the border in Afghanistan. The detainee, whose claims cannot be verified, said that bin Laden was likely in the eastern province of Ghazni, where the Mehsud tribesman comes from, early this year. But, of course, bin Laden may not be there now. As the detainee put it, "The sheikh doesn't stay in any one place." The account should bolster Pakistan's claim that bin Laden is not on its soil, although U.S. and British officials think otherwise. Even so, according to former CIA analyst and Daily Beast contributor Bruce Riedel, the tip is worth checking out, a venture that may take some time, as western interrogators haven't been given access to the man. As Riedel put it, "If it's true--a big if--this is an extraordinary and important story."