巴基斯坦北部的警方说，他们逮捕了一名美国人。此人自称在单独执行刺杀基地组织首脑本拉登的任务。
有关当局说，他们在靠近阿富汗边境的吉德拉尔地区发现这名男子，当时他身上带有一把手枪、一把刀，一把匕首和夜视装备。警方说，这名男子企图越境进入阿富汗的纽里斯坦地区，因为他告诉他们说，本拉丹藏在那里。
吉德拉尔当局已经确定这名男子的身份，他名叫福克纳，是加利福尼亚州的一名建筑工人。
他们说，福克纳6月3日抵达吉德拉尔，并在当地酒店下榻。那里的官员为他指派了一名警卫，这种保护措施对在巴基斯坦偏远地区的外国人来说是相当普遍的。在警卫发现福克纳不见后，巴基斯坦当局开始搜寻他。
阿富汗的努里斯坦地区和巴基斯坦的吉德拉尔地区据传是基地组织领导人本拉登的几个藏身地点中的两处。
Police in northern Pakistan say they have arrested an American who said he was on a solo mission to kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Authorities say they found the man armed with a handgun, a sword, a dagger and night vision equipment in the Chitral region near the Afghan border. Police say the man was trying to cross into Afghanistan’s Nuristan region because he told them that bin Laden was hiding there.
Authorities in Chitral have identified the man as Gary Faulkner, a construction worker from California.
They say he arrived in Chitral on June 3 and was staying at a local hotel. Officials there had assigned him a security guard, a step that is quite common for foreigners in remote parts of Pakistan. Pakistani authorities began searching for Faulkner when the guard noticed that he had disappeared.
Afghanistan’s Nuristan region and Pakistan’s Chitral region are among several rumored hiding spots for the al-Qaida leader.