US gets access to ‘Rambo’ arrested in Pak while on mission to kill bin Laden

ISLAMABAD - US consular officials in Pakistan were allowed to meet the American construction worker, who was nabbed while on a solo mission to ‘hunt’ down and kill Al-Qaeda warlord Osama bin Laden.

Pakistani security officials have shifted “Rambo”-wannabe Gary Faulkner from Peshawar to Islamabad, where the US consular staff visited him.

“I can only confirm the meeting but can’t provide more details or discuss the case because no privacy act waiver had been signed,” The New York Post quoted Richard Snelsire, spokesman of the US Embassy in Islamabad, as saying.

During the visit, US officials looked into his health and legal situation.

“Health is a concern in any consular visit. We don’t provide a lawyer, but will provide information about lawyers to citizens in these kind of situations,” Snelsire added.

Meanwhile, official sources in Pakistani government have said that due to US pressure, embassy officials are expecting Pakistan to release Faulkner “soon.”

He has not been charged, but if convicted he can face maximum up to three years in prison.

Faulkner was arrested from a forest near Chitral in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) earlier this week.

The Chitral region is among several rumoured hiding places of Laden.

Officials said that he was trying to sneak into Afghanistan’s Nuristan province to hunt and kill Laden.

A pistol, a dagger, night vision goggles, some hashish and Christian literature were recovered from his possession.

During his interrogation, Faulkner told police that he had visited Pakistan seven times, and this was his third trip to Chitral.

When asked why he thought he had a chance of tracing bin Laden, Faulkner replied: “God is with me, and I am confident I will be successful in killing him,” Mumtaz Ahmad Khan, a local police officer, quoted him, as saying. (ANI)