Lake: Bin Ladin Biographer Under Fire

Eli Lake reports that a Pakistani journalist who has had access to Osama Bin Ladin in the past, is now coming under fire for being seen as too involved with his subject matter:

Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, regarded as Osama bin Laden's official biographer, is facing a backlash after a recording surfaced of his reported conversation with Taliban terrorists revealing a discussion of a kidnapped intelligence officer who was later killed by Punjabi terrorists.

Mr. Mir is best known for his access to the senior leadership of the Taliban and al Qaeda and also as a television anchor for Pakistan's GEO-TV. He is one of the only journalists to interview Osama bin Laden after Sept. 11, 2001, and he also had several interviews with the terrorist leader in the late 1990s.

Over the weekend, Jang Media, which owns GEO-TV, announced that it is investigating published claims that Mr. Mir offered advice to an unidentified Pakistani Taliban operative regarding Khalid Khwaja, a former Pakistani intelligence officer who was kidnapped on March 26 by the Asian Tigers, or Punjabi Taliban. On April 30, Mr. Khwaja's captors killed him.

Mr. Mir is suing a media company for libel for printing a story based on the tape. Mr. Mir has told other Pakistan media outlets that his voice is not on the 13-minute audiotape posted last week to several Pakistani websites. He has said he is being set up. Mr. Mir did not respond to e-mails requesting comment.

Mary Habeck, a professor and researcher on political Islam at Johns Hopkins University, said of Mr. Mir: "Hamid Mir has crossed over from being an observer and journalist to an actor who is now taking part in things he is supposedly just reporting on."

A U.S. official who is informed about the matter said Mr. Mir has been known for voicing anti-American sentiments for a long time.

"It's an open question as to whether he's crossed the line from someone with very good access to terrorists to someone who's involved in their activities," the official said. "This audio recording is the most serious indication to date that Mir may be more than just an extremist sympathizer."

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