Protected by Taliban, bin Laden runs a clandestine network

Kathy Gannon

Wednesday, May 17, 2000 | 4:52 a.m.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Sheltered by his Taliban hosts and constantly on the move, Osama bin Laden reportedly spends most of his time overseeing three terrorist training camps in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province.

Occasionally, reports say, he travels to camps run by his Al-Qaida group in two other Afghan provinces, riding in a nondescript white jeep tailed by well-armed guards.

And in recent months, reports have surfaced that the Saudi-born exile is ailing.

Already at the top of America's list of most-wanted terrorists for allegedly masterminding the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998 that killed 224 people, President Clinton on Wednesday added the charge of plotting to target Americans at millennium celebrations.

Clinton said Jordan helped U.S. investigators shut down a terrorist network led by bin Laden to hit American targets between last Christmas and New Year's.

The United States has already offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

Seen at a meeting of his followers in March, bin Laden appeared weak and gaunt, drinking several glasses of milk and stopping periodically to catch his breath and regain his strength. An Afghan doctor traveling with the Saudi dissident said he was suffering from liver disease.

A Western intelligence official confirmed that the reputed terrorist leader was seriously ill with kidney and liver disease.

The Taliban have dismissed reports of his illness as U.S.-sponsored propaganda.

The intelligence official, who refused to be identified by name or nationality, also said bin Laden's aides have talked about "putting him on a dialysis machine."

"But it's still business as usual for him. He is still operating an enormous network around the world," the official said.

The United States wants the Taliban to surrender bin Laden for trial. Last November the United Nations imposed sanctions against the Taliban to press that demand.

But Afghanistan's rulers have refused, saying that bin Laden is a guest and that Afghan tradition and culture forbids handing over a guest to his enemies.

However, the Taliban said they have taken away bin Laden's communications systems.

They have also offered to allow international monitors from Islamic countries keep an eye on bin Laden and to allow him to be tried by Islamic clerics from three Islamic countries.