The Pentagon on Monday categorically denied reports that US Marines had launched an operation in the Baghran region of Afghanistan to hunt for Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
"Those reports are absolutely not true," said Major Bill Harrison, a spokesman for US Central Command in Tampa, Florida. "No marines are leaving Kandahar airport."
CNN reported that Marine commandos had launched an operation early Monday acting on "credible" information that Omar was in the Baghran region, 190 kilometers (120 miles) north of Kandahar.
"There is nothing (in terms of US military personnel) coming out of Kandahar," Harrison said.
When asked by reporters about the report, President George W. Bush remained vague.
Bush, who is spending the New Year on his ranch in Crawford, Texas, reiterated that the United States would eventually capture Omar.
"It's just a matter of time," he said, adding that the same was true of Osama bin Laden.
"I'm patient, and so is our military. There's no artificial time lines, or, you know, deadlines.
"The definition of success is making sure the Taliban's out of existence, helping rebuild Afghanistan and disrupting this international terrorist network, and we're doing a darn good job of it," Bush said.
CNN reported that Omar was hiding under the protection of thousands of Taliban sympathizers, and that US troops were already in the Baghran area to back up Afghan fighters under the command of Gul Agha Sherzai.
(China Daily January 1, 2002)
