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Breaking News
Intelligence Sources Say Arrest Story Untrue
Aired March 07, 2003 - 10:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The Associate Press is reporting it now, and the Reuters News Agency is reporting it, quoting a Pakistani provincial minister. CNN has not been independently able to confirm that. In fact, we're getting some mixed cautionary signals here in Washington.
Let's bring in our national security correspondent David Ensor, who is going to help us better understand what might be going on right now.
David, the report from the AP, now from Reuters, quoting a Pakistani minister, saying that two sons of Osama bin Laden have been captured in southeastern Afghanistan.
What are your sources telling us right now?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. officials say they have nothing to substantiate that report. And while they're looking into it, they do not believe it is accurate. They are making the point that the barrier appears to have been lowered, journalistically speaking, that you have wire services now going with reports based on one source. They say that that really isn't enough, and that as far as they can tell, it is not true to say that any of Osama bin Laden's sons have been detained in recent hours or days.
BLITZER: All right. David, is it theoretically possible that the information may have reached Pakistani officials? If this was in fact a U.S.-Pakistani joint operation in southeastern Afghanistan, it hasn't filtered back yet to officials here in Washington?
ENSOR: No, I don't think so, because the agencies involved have representatives...
(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 7, 2003 - 10:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The Associate Press is reporting it now, and the Reuters News Agency is reporting it, quoting a Pakistani provincial minister. CNN has not been independently able to confirm that. In fact, we're getting some mixed cautionary signals here in Washington.
Let's bring in our national security correspondent David Ensor, who is going to help us better understand what might be going on right now.
David, the report from the AP, now from Reuters, quoting a Pakistani minister, saying that two sons of Osama bin Laden have been captured in southeastern Afghanistan.
What are your sources telling us right now?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. officials say they have nothing to substantiate that report. And while they're looking into it, they do not believe it is accurate. They are making the point that the barrier appears to have been lowered, journalistically speaking, that you have wire services now going with reports based on one source. They say that that really isn't enough, and that as far as they can tell, it is not true to say that any of Osama bin Laden's sons have been detained in recent hours or days.
BLITZER: All right. David, is it theoretically possible that the information may have reached Pakistani officials? If this was in fact a U.S.-Pakistani joint operation in southeastern Afghanistan, it hasn't filtered back yet to officials here in Washington?
ENSOR: No, I don't think so, because the agencies involved have representatives...
(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
