Man arrested near Afghan border with sword, pistol and night-vision goggles
A 52-year-old American man who was arrested in Pakistan on Monday carrying a 40-inch sword, a pistol and night-vision goggles told authorities he was out to kill al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden to avenge the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Gary Brooks Faulkner of California was captured by police in the Bumburat Valley, near the border of Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, after slipping past the police guard posted in front of his hotel on Sunday night. After a 10-hour hunt, Faulkner was found in a high-security zone near the border carrying a 40-inch sword, a round of bullets and Christian religious books. Faulkner arrived in the northwestern town of Chitral on June 3 on a tourist visa, and police say this was his third trip to the area in the past five years. He surrendered without any resistance and was flown to Peshawar for further interrogation.