[classicman]

'I'm here to behead Bin Laden'

An American armed with a pistol, a dagger and a 40-inch sword claimed he was on a solo mission to kill Osama Bin Laden after being arrested in Pakistan.

Gary Faulkner, 52, told intelligence officers he intended to track down the fugitive Al Qaeda leader and decapitate him.

The Californian builder was picked up in a forest in the northern Chitral region late on Sunday.

A police source said he shouted 'Don't come closer to me or I'll open fire,' before finally surrendering his weapon.

When he was searched, police found he was also carrying night vision goggles, a book containing Christian verse and teachings and kidney medicine.

'We initially laughed when he told us that he wanted to kill Osama bin Laden,' Officer Mumtaz Ahmad Khan said.

But he added that, when officers seized the pistol, the 40in sword and night vision equipment, 'our suspicion grew'.

Mr Khan said police had asked Faulkner why he believed he had a chance of tracing Bin Laden.

'He said "God is with me, and I am confident I will be successful in killing him,"' he added.

'(Faulkner) says he is a kidney patient,' Mr Khan added. 'He was also carrying medicines for kidney and blood pressure treatment.

'He claimed he had suffered personal losses in the terror attacks of September 11.'

Self-styled Rambo Faulkner had entered Chitral as a tourist on June 3 and was assigned a police minder, a common practice for foreigners visiting remote parts of Pakistan.

But he gave him the slip and vanished into a densely wooded area. Police launched a hunt for him, finally locating him after a 10 hour search.