American construction worker went on a mission to kill the world's most wanted terrorist with just pistol, dagger and night-vision goggles
American construction worker went on a mission to kill the world's most wanted terrorist with just pistol, dagger and night-vision goggles
The US has spent nine years and billions of dollars trying to hunt down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden amid the rugged, lawless badlands along the Pakistani-Afghan border.
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| Mission impossible? Gary Brooks Faulkner wanted to kill Osama and take revenge for the 9/11 attacks. Pic/AFP | |
But, according to Pakistani officials and his own family, Gary Brooks Faulkner of Denver, Colorado, thought he could get the job done himself, with a pistol, a dagger and night-vision goggles.
Faulkner talked with family members about his quest, and at Denver International Airport on May 30, he was asked what his family should do if he came back from Pakistan in a body bag.
Faulkner (50) and his younger brother, Scott, discussed Gary's desires for cremation.
Farewell pic
Scott snapped a farewell picture on his BlackBerry. Then Gary, a construction worker with failing kidneys, boarded a plane for Pakistan.
On Tuesday, Pakistani police said they had arrested Faulkner in a remote, mountainous region near the Afghan border.
Since the September 11 attacks, Scott said, his brother -- a devout Christian with no military training -- has taken at least six trips to Pakistan to find bin Laden.
"After Osama mocked this country on 9/11 and it seemed that the military wasn't doing enough, it became his passionu00a0 to track down Osama and kill him or bring him back alive," Scott said.
Pakistani police quoted Faulkner as telling them he was "on a mission to decapitate bin Laden". He had been staying at a hotel in the town of Bumburate in Chitral since June 3.
Local police were providing security for him, not uncommon in border regions where kidnappings and killings of foreigners have occurred. But on Sunday, he sneaked out of the hotel.
After a 10-hour manhunt, he was picked up on a mountain path as he was trying to make his way into Nuristan, an eastern Afghanistan province, according to Pakistani officials. He was moved to the city of Peshawar for questioning, they said.
It is one of the areas where bin Laden is rumoured to be holed up. Scott said his brother had developed intelligence from sources he would not reveal that bin Laden may be on a specific mountain honeycombed with caves and rocky hiding spots.
| He's 'not mad' |
| Pakistan conducted psychological tests on Gary Faulkner yesterday. "A doctor examined the American and spent about 30 minutes with him," an intelligence official said. "The doctor told us he has some psychological problems but said he is not a mad man," the official added. Earlier, Scott had said that his brother "was not crazy", but "passionate". |
115 crore, bounty the US has placed on the al-Qaeda leader's head
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