How close did bin Laden hunter get?
Gary Faulkner went to Pakistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden last year. Now he reportedly wants some of the $25 million reward.
May 4th, 2011
03:27 PM ET

How close did bin Laden hunter get?

Last June an American construction worker was picked up in Pakistan on a one-man mission to capture Osama bin Laden.

Gary Faulkner was armed with a dagger, some biblical literature, a pistol, night-vision goggles and a sword, news reports said.

What's more, the man was even on dialysis, CNN reported at the time. And yet somehow he managed to end up in Chitral, a mountainous district in the northern tip of the country.

Chitral  was as logical a place as any to hunt for the most wanted terrorist in the world. News reports in the years since the 9/11 attacks had put bin Laden in fortress-like environs along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Chitral fit the bill. It was connected to the rest of the country by a strip of land so treacherous that it is often closed because of weather conditions.

On Sunday night, Americans received news that bin Laden was killed in his compound in Abbottabad, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

How far off was Faulkner, whose across-the-world trek still remains shrouded in mystery?

Chitral to Abbottabad is roughly about 300 miles, according to Google Maps technology, indicating about a "7-hour" drive.  Yeah right. To put the distance in perspective, according to Google, the two places are about the same distance as Atlanta, Georgia, to the Florida Panhandle.

Of course, much of the Pakistan route is undriveable because of foothills and mountains. The area is also said to be inhabited by fiercely independent tribes.

While Faulkner has talked to CNN in depth much of the details about his trip remain secret. What we do know is that he wants some of the $25 million reward money that was offered for bin Laden's kill or capture.

"I scared the squirrel out of his hole, he popped his head up and he got capped," Faulkner told ABC News this week, referring to bin Laden's death. "[U.S. officials] were handed this opportunity on a platter from myself," he was quoted as saying.

Faulkner also told ABC that assertions that bin Laden had been holed up in his compound in Abbottabad for more than half a decade were not true.

"He hadn't been living there for no damn six years," he told ABC. "I absolutely flushed him out."

Should Faulkner get a portion of the reward?

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Filed under: Al Qaeda • Osama bin Laden • September 11 • Terrorism
soundoff (1,046 Responses)
  1. Nathan Robinson

    I ment to say Osama. Dang why'd the States have to have a president who's only one letter change from the man he killed. lol!

    May 4, 2011 at 7:54 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Croco3

    The reward was for killing or capturing the boogeyman, not for looking for him! And should anyone believe the tale of a single man, looking for a leader of the deadliest gang of hooligans on Earth; what if he had actually came face to face with the Bin?

    May 4, 2011 at 7:54 pm | Report abuse |
  3. MrsFizzy

    Oh Yes...I think he deserves a little something for his efforts.

    May 4, 2011 at 7:55 pm | Report abuse |
  4. bsboy

    What chance does he have hunting Osama? He's armed with a sword, a handgun, and a knife, while Osama's probably surrounded by henchmen with AK-47s. Lay off the pills, Faulkner.

    May 4, 2011 at 7:56 pm | Report abuse |
  5. wow

    i cant believe cnn would give this guy a story

    May 4, 2011 at 7:56 pm | Report abuse |
    • abby1

      I agree with you. I do not understand why they are reporting anything relating to this guy.

      May 4, 2011 at 8:03 pm | Report abuse |
  6. upInSmoke

    Somebody is smoked out...chronically smoked out.

    May 4, 2011 at 7:56 pm | Report abuse |
  7. mike

    sounds like a vulcher, shows up after the kill to feast.

    May 4, 2011 at 7:56 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Tom

    I think Mr. Faulkner should get his big chance – al Qaeda wants some evidence UBL is dead. Faulkner can carry a DNA sample to AQ headquarters. With a little tracking device. Boom.

    May 4, 2011 at 7:57 pm | Report abuse |
  9. turboturtles

    I think he should get his plane ticket home payed for, and maybe a steak. I mean the guy did try to hunt down Osama bin laden with a sword. Obviously he didn't flush anyone out, but maybe he was a walking billboard to those people, that we have nutjobs in our country that will hunt you down Jedi style if you try to stir up any trouble.

    May 4, 2011 at 7:58 pm | Report abuse |
  10. abby1

    I wish this man would be quiet. He makes himself sound sort of loony. He does not deserve any portion of the reward because he was not responsible for providing information leading to Bin Laden.

    May 4, 2011 at 7:59 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Jim456

    If so then I should get parts of the bounty. I was publicly announcing years ago that Bin Laden is in Islamabad or in the suburbs around of Islamabad. But I was ignored, like so many others. Can I have the money now?

    May 4, 2011 at 7:59 pm | Report abuse |
  12. MAN IN LIL WHITE JACKET

    Someone tell this guy to meet them at the nut house to collect his money.

    May 4, 2011 at 8:00 pm | Report abuse |
  13. johnny

    oh brother , i new this would happen,,,,next,please

    May 4, 2011 at 8:00 pm | Report abuse |
  14. tom

    This guy seems really patriotic and stuff, but c'mon –hes a total loon.

    May 4, 2011 at 8:01 pm | Report abuse |
  15. edvhou812

    A looney toon with some drive and ambition. You don't see that everyday.

    May 4, 2011 at 8:01 pm | Report abuse |
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