Taliban Spokesman: Al-Qaeda Escapees Are Safe

Apparently, the terrorists who escaped from the Bagram detention center are now in the southern part of Afghanistan.

From Reuters:

Four Arab al Qaeda militants who escaped from a heavily fortified U.S. detention center in Afghanistan this week reached a Taliban haven safely on Thursday, a spokesman for the guerrilla movement said.

"The Taliban found and recovered four al-Qaeda mujahideen (holy warriors) this morning," Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi said from an undisclosed location.

Hakimi, whose information has often proved unreliable, declined to say where the escapees were, but added: "They are far away from Kabul. They are safe and now taking rest."

The Pakistani-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency quoted another, unnamed, Taliban spokesman as saying the men were in the south of the country. "They are alright. They had some bruises to their feet ... they are being given medicines."

Wait a minute! The Taliban has a spokesman? And, he's often unreliable? Say, whatever happened to Baghdad Bob?

Anyway, the escapees have been named and they come from four different countries, Syrian Abdullah Hashimi, Kuwaiti Mahmoud Ahmad Mohammad, Saudi Mahmoud Alfatahni, and Libyan Mohammad Hassan.

In the same report, a member of the Taliban leadership council, Mullah Dadullah, told Al Jazeera television that the group possessed anti-aircraft weapons and was seeking to obtain even more powerful arms.

Would it be possible to get spokesman Hakimi back on the line for a lengthy chat?