US: US forces have dropped leaflets in Afghanistan urging Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda followers to surrender, which depict bin Laden in civilian clothes and without a beard, the Pentagon said yesterday.
Entitled "Don't die needlessly", the flyer - printed in both English and local Afghan languages - includes a doctored photo of bin Laden to show how he could have looked if he were to have fled the country incognito.
In the photo, bin Laden is close-shaven but with a moustache, wearing a western-style suit with a tie.
"Usama bin Laden the murderer and coward has abandoned you," reads the legend next to his picture. On the flip side is a photo of a dead al-Qaeda fighter.
"Usama bin Laden, the murderer and coward, has abandoned al-Qaeda. He has abandoned you and run away. Give yourself up and do not die needlessly, you mean nothing to him. Save your families the grief and pain of your death." US forces continue to drop leaflets in Kandahar and Tora Bora area, said the Pentagon's top spokeswoman, Ms Victoria Clarke. She said the leafleting has been an effective tool in the hunt for al-Qaeda leaders.
"It has surfaced a lot of information, intel," Ms Clarke said. "It has encouraged a lot of activity. There are obviously a lot more Afghans than there are of us to be going around asking questions, looking for things, looking for people."
US authorities have placed a $25 million bounty on the head of bin Laden, accused of masterminding the September 11th attacks.
Washington so far has been unable to capture the fugitive Saudi-born militant, who has alternately been reported dead in eastern Afghanistan, alive somewhere in the country or living across the border in Pakistan.
When asked if the leaflet could be perceived as US manipulation of the truth, the US Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, said: "That is a possibility, that people will say something that's not true. There's nothing much we can do about it." - (AFP)