Pakistan – An American armed with a pistol and a 40-inch sword was detained in northern Pakistan and told investigators he was on a solo mission to kill Osama bin Laden, a police officer said Tuesday.
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The man was identified as 52-year-old Californian construction worker Gary Brooks Faulkner, said officer Mumtaz Ahmad Khan.
He was picked up in a forest in the Chitral region late on Sunday, he said.
“We initially laughed when he told us that he wanted to kill Osama bin Laden,” said Khan. But he said when officers seized the pistol, the sword and night-vision equipment, “our suspicion grew.”
He was questioned Tuesday by intelligence officials in Peshawar, the main northwestern city.
Faulkner told police he visited Pakistan seven times, and this was his third trip to Chitral.
Police alleged the American intended to travel to the eastern Afghan region of Nuristan, just across the border from Chitral.
The area is among several rumored hiding places for the al-Qaida leader, who has evaded a massive U.S. effort to capture him since 2001. Bin Laden is accused of being behind the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, as well other terrorist acts.
Khan said Faulkner was also carrying a book containing Christian verses and teachings.
When asked why he thought he had a chance of tracing bin Laden, Faulkner replied, “God is with me, and I am confident I will be successful in killing him,” said Khan.
Faulkner arrived in the Chitrali town of Bumburate on June 3 and stayed in a hotel there.
He was assigned a police guard, as is quite common for foreigners visiting remote parts of Pakistan. When he checked out without informing police, officers began hunting for him, said Khan.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said the mission had received notification from Pakistani officials that an American citizen had been arrested. He said embassy officials were trying to meet the man and confirm his identity.
Why did they arrest him?
Cia
Whoa. Now that’s a man on a mission.
Why don’t they get this guy the clinical help he needs rather than letting him run loose to get himself killed. We should have rachmonis on these people rather than criticizing them for their don quixote missions.
He sounds like a legal nut job to me
It sounds as though he’s mentally ill. I think it would be great if a private citizen were able to track down Bin Laden (he’s supposedly living in luxury in Iran) and kill him. That would be a tremendous embarrassment to our incompetent government.
He’s got emunah.
He needs money. look on the FBI site, there is a 25 million bounty on his head, & all thr media & honors if he got him.
He may have alot of emuna & bitachon, but he was just doing a little bit of hishtadlus too.
Let him finish the job
CIA or even Mosad
Maybe just a simple NUTCASE
what illegal activity did he do? why did they arrest him? I suspect the US gov. would embarrased, that’s why.
he is in the wrong country looking for him, Bin Laden is in Iran hiding according to Debka sources.
He is an true american hero! We need more patriots.
I don’t understand why they’d arrest him for that.
Why are they retaining him?
Why hasn’t America freed him?
Food for thought.
He may be a nutcase, but i guess sometimes nut cases come in good use. They would do stuff we (normal people) would never even dream of doing! And Killing Osama Bin Laden is something that needs to be done y someone…He is a danger to this world…who knows what else he is scheming up to destroy our world? He needs to be killed and This man Is right for wanting to kill him…May anyone who trys to kill him deem successful!
looks like the neanderthal man with glasses!