JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- Despite U.N. sanctions, suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden travels freely through the Afghan countryside, riding in an armor-plated vehicle with a Kalashnikov assault rifle in his hand, as he reportedly prepares new recruits for jihads around the region.
A guerrilla in bin Laden's organization, from his spartan hideout deep within the alleys of this eastern Afghan city, told of how the Saudi exile, seen by his supporters as a hero of Muslim resistance to the United States, keeps moving to escape those who pursue him."He will be here and then he will be gone. He never stays anywhere for any time," Abu Daoud said.
Seated on a cushion in a dirt-streaked concrete room, the wooden door bolted shut, Abu Daoud -- the only name the Yemeni guerrilla would give -- warned of a commando unit ready to take revenge for U.N.-imposed sanctions, which took effect Sunday.
"We have now collected our people," Abu Daoud warned in an interview arranged by a Taliban commander. "If sanctions are imposed on Afghanistan, we will send our commando troops to do jihad (holy war)."
The United States has expressed suspicion that bin Laden's followers were behind attacks Friday against U.S. and U.N. facilities in neighboring Pakistan. But both bin Laden and the leader of the Taliban militia that rules most of Afghanistan denied any involvement.
Washington accuses bin Laden of organizing a militant network, called al-Qaida, based in Afghanistan, and says he masterminded last year's bombings against the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people.
Despite a $5 million reward put on his head by Washington and a barrage of U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles last year on his alleged bases in eastern Afghanistan, it's been pretty much business as usual for bin Laden, said Abu Daoud.