Bin Laden bodyguards held at US base in Cuba
The men were part of bin Laden's al-Qaida entourage, assigned to personally protect the exiled Saudi millionaire. But how much information about bin Laden they could, or would, give to US authorities was unclear.
The bodyguards were among 564 suspected Taliban or al-Qaida members being held in metal cells at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay. Most of the detainees were captured in Afghanistan or Pakistan during the US-led war that began on October 7.
Military officials said yesterday they did not know how many members of bin Laden's security entourage were detainees or when and where they were captured.
A senior US official said the bodyguards had been in US custody since February. Some of them had served bin Laden for years and had travelled extensively with the al-Qaida leader in Afghanistan, the official said.
His bodyguards were not expected to know much about attacks in the works beyond the stray snippets of conversations they may have overheard between bin Laden and his lieutenants, officials said.
But they could provide US interrogators with information about bin Laden's movements and security precautions although these were things bin Laden would be expected to change if his bodyguards were captured.
The last time US officials acknowledged they had a credible fix on his location was in December, when he was believed to be in the Tora Bora region. He is thought to have fled as America's Afghan allies approached.
Evidence suggests bin Laden may have ditched most of his entourage in favour of just a few highly-trusted associates. Published reports said a video found by allied forces in February showed bin Laden camping with just a few other people.
"He's either dead, which is fine from our standpoint, or he's alive and for some reason decides he does not want to live up to his reputation as enjoying going on videos and letting the world know that he's alive," Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
