An American man has been detained in the mountains of Pakistan after authorities found him carrying a sword, pistol and night-vision goggles on a solo mission to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden.
Friends and family say construction worker Gary Brooks Faulkner is a devout, good-humored Christian who was "on a mission" to kill or capture Osama.
Dying man?
Faulkner's sister, Deanna, said her brother suffers from kidney disease that has left him with only 9 percent kidney function. But she told The Associated Press that she did not think his illness was his motivation to go to Pakistan.
"I don't believe this was, 'I'm dying, and I'm going to do a hurrah thing,"' she said.
Scott Faulkner, the man’s brother, said Faulkner was very religious and carried a Bible with him at all times but wasn't planning to proselytize. "He talked about why he was so passionate" to find bin Laden, Scott Faulkner recalled, adding that his brother retained vivid memories of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. "He has not forgotten". Scott Faulkner dropped his brother off at Denver's airport May 30, and the two discussed the possibility Faulkner would not return alive from his search for bin Laden. But Scott Faulkner insisted his brother was on a rational mission.
"He's as normal as you I," Scott Faulkner said. "He's just very passionate, and, as a Christian, he felt, when Osama mocked this country after 9/11, and it didn't feel like the military was doing enough, it became his passion, his mission, to track down Osama, and kill him, or bring him back alive."
Scott Faulkner said his brother sold all his tools to finance his trip and was prepared to die in Pakistan. He also said his brother took no weapons and had a valid visa for Pakistan. Scott Faulkner hoped his brother wouldn't be charged with a crime.
The 50-year-old Faulkner was in and out of Colorado state prisons between 1981 and 1993, serving a total of about seven years in five separate stints for burglary, larceny and parole violations, state officials said.Nobel & devoted Christian indeed?
He arrived June 3 in the town of Bumburate and stayed in a hotel there. He was assigned a police guard, as is common for foreigners visiting remote parts of Pakistan.When he checked out without informing police, officers began looking for him, according to the top police officer in the Chitral region, Mumtaz Ahmad Khan. Faulkner was found late Sunday in a forest.
"We initially laughed when he told us that he wanted to kill Osama bin Laden," Khan said. But when officers seized the weapons and night-vision equipment, "our suspicion grew." He said the American was trying to cross into the nearby Afghan region of Nuristan.
Khan said Faulkner told investigators he was angry after the Sept. 11 attacks. "I think Osama is responsible for bloodshed in the world, and I want to kill him," Khan quoted him as saying.
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," Khan said.He said police confiscated a small amount of hashish, enough for a single joint, from Faulkner.
Schizophrenia or Bipolar disorder??
Hugo Corral, who owns a barber shop in Greeley, recalled cutting Faulkner's hair a few months ago. He said Faulkner was quiet and wouldn't answer his questions. After the haircut, Corral said, he saw Faulkner acting strangely outside his shop.
"He would walk, then stop, then do something like he was saluting something. It was kind of weird," Corral said. Through the glass of his shop, he said he could hear Faulkner cursing at no one in particular.
Published: The Star, Wednesday June 16, 2010.
