Asia-Pacific

Bin Laden hunter's family says he'll get dialysis

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-06-18 06:30

DENVER - An American who was detained in Pakistan while on a solo mission to kill Osama bin Laden has been moved to the capital city of Islamabad and will soon get dialysis for his failing kidneys, a family spokesman said Thursday.

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Gary Brooks Faulkner, a 50-year-old construction worker from Greeley, Colo., was detained Sunday in northern Pakistan. Police say he had a pistol, a sword, night-vision equipment and other gear and claimed he was out to kill the al-Qaida leader.

Stuart Crespin, a spokesman for Faulkner's Colorado family, said they don't know when Faulkner will return to the US Crespin said none of the family have immediate plans to go to Pakistan.

The family is getting its information from the US State Department and hasn't been able to speak directly to Faulkner, Crespin said. US Embassy officials met with Faulkner on Thursday.

Pakistani security officials said Faulkner claims he set off for Pakistan after God appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to kill bin Laden to avenge the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the US

He was trying to cross into the nearby Afghan region of Nuristan, one of bin Laden's rumored hiding places, the Pakistanis said.

Faulkner's sister, Deanna M. Faulkner, has expressed concerns about her brother's health, saying he can't survive without dialysis.

Crespin said he didn't know whether Gary Faulkner had received any dialysis treatments in Pakistan.

Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire declined to provide details about Faulkner's condition, citing privacy concerns.

Crespin said he had no details, either.

"His health is what it is," Crespin said. "He has problems with his kidneys. He needs dialysis."