The American man who was caught in Pakistan armed with a pistol, a 40-inch sword and night-vision goggles wanted to cut off Osama bin Laden’s head as revenge for a personal loss he suffered on Sept. 11, 2001.
Gary Brooks Faulkner, a 52-year-old Californian construction worker, told cops there that he “wanted to decapitate Osama bin Laden,” according to London’s Daily Mail.
It’s unclear what loss he suffered during the terrorist attacks.
An intelligence official in Chitral, who asked not to be identified, said Faulkner shouted: “Don’t come closer to me or I’ll open fire!” when approached.
Faulkner is also battling kidney disease, his family said.
“He is dying of kidney disease,” Kelli Faulkner, a relative, told The Post.
But his sister, Deanna Faulkner, of Grand Junction, Colo., said she didn’t think her brother’s illness was his motivation in going to Pakistan.
“I don’t believe this was, ’I’m dying and I’m going to do a hurrah thing.’”
She said her brother is “very religious” but declined to elaborate.
“My brother is not crazy. He is highly intelligent and loves his country and he has not forgotten what Osama has done to this country,” his brother Scott told CNN.
“Osama had made some references to our God, the God of the Bible, in a poor light, and the fact that he was taunting America and getting away with killing thousands of Americans, my brother took that very personally.”
Mumtaz Ahmad Khan, a senior police investigator, said, according to Wired.com, “He says that he is a kidney patient. He was also carrying medicines for kidney and blood pressure treatment.”
His condition may explain why he set out on a solo mission to kill bin Laden, which might be considered a suicide mission.
Faulkner said he wanted to cross over into the nearby Afghan province of Nuristan because he had “heard bin Laden was living there”, according to Khan.
Khan also said the man has a small amount of hashish in his possession.
Faulkner was picked up in a forest in the Chitral region late on Sunday, he said.
“We initially laughed when he told us that he wanted to kill Osama bin Laden,” said Khan. But he said when officers seized the pistol, the sword, a dagger and night-vision equipment, “our suspicion grew.”
He was questioned Tuesday by intelligence officials in Peshawar, the main northwestern city.
Faulkner told police he visited Pakistan seven times, and this was his third trip to Chitral, which is a mountainous region that attracts adventurous Western tourists and hikers. Unlike much of northwestern Pakistan, it is considered relatively safe for foreigners.
Chitral and Nuristan are among several rumored hiding places for the al-Qaida leader, who has evaded a massive U.S. effort to capture him since 2001. The focus of that hunt has been along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Bin Laden is accused of being behind the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, as well other terrorist acts. Washington has offered a bounty of $25 million for information leading to his capture.
Khan said Faulkner was also carrying a book containing Christian verses and teachings.
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,” said Khan.
Faulkner arrived in the Chitrali town of Bumburate on June 3 and stayed in a hotel there.
He was assigned a police guard, as is quite common for foreigners visiting remote parts of Pakistan. When he checked out without informing police, officers began hunting for him, said Khan.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said the mission had received notification from Pakistani officials that an American citizen had been arrested. He said embassy officials were trying to meet the man and confirm his identity.
Deanna Faulkner said her brother usually gets dialysis every three days but can go up to two weeks without it.
“He was planning on getting back here before then,” she said. She didn’t know when he left the country.
“We contacted the State Department to let them know of his medical condition and that his family is here and we love him,” she added.
She said family members haven’t heard from him since he left the country.
“He’s in a country where he can’t get word out,” she said.
She said Scott Faulkner has lived in both Colorado and California, but she declined to say where he was living when he left for Pakistan. She said he will be 52 at the end of the summer.
“If this is your family member, there you go. What do you do?”
She said her brother isn’t in danger of dying anytime soon unless he doesn’t get dialysis in a week or two.
“People can live 20 years on dialysis,” she said.
“I’m worried about him. I’m worried that in Pakistan they won’t give him his dialysis and if he doesn’t get it, he’s in serious trouble.”
Asked about Pakistani authorities saying Faulkner had made previous trips there, Deanna Faulkner said, “He has been all over the world many times.”
“Obviously, we love and care for our brother, our family member. Without the treatment, healthwise, he’s in serious trouble.”
With AP and Reuters