Islamabad: An American construction worker has been detained in the mountains of Pakistan after authorities there found him carrying a sword, pistol and night-vision goggles on a solo mission to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden.
Catching bin Laden was Gary Brooks Faulkner's "passion," his brother said, noting that the 50-year-old has been to Pakistan at least six times, learned some of the local language and even grew a long beard to blend in.
Relatives and acquaintances said Faulkner is a devout, good-humoured Christian who requires dialysis and did time in prison years ago.
Faulkner arrived on June 3 in the town of Bumburate and stayed in a hotel there.
The Greeley, Colorado, man 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.
Chitral and Nuristan are among several rumoured hiding places for bin Laden along the mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan's military and intelligence establishment generally deny the possibility that bin Laden is hiding somewhere along the Pakistan-Afghan border, as Western intelligence agencies believe.
On Tuesday, Faulkner was being questioned by intelligence officials in Peshawar, Pakistan's main northwestern city.
He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
His brother, Scott Faulkner, dropped him off at Denver's airport May 30, and the two discussed the possibility Faulkner would not return alive from his search of bin Laden.
But Scott Faulkner insisted his brother was on a rational mission, saying he is not mad, adding that Gary earns money for his missions.
"He doesn't have schizophrenia. He doesn't hear voices. God isn't telling him: 'Oh, Gary, go get him, go get him.' He's a normal person. He handles himself in society. When he's here he has a job. He pays his bills."
"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," he added.
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.
"This is not his first time, he didn't snap and say 'Oh, geez, I would like to go get Osama", he's always financed this on his own, he works construction, he saves up his money and then he will fly to Pakistan, he is in the country legally, he flew to Los Angeles to the embassy and got his visa every time he has, he's not entered that country illegally, he did not take weapons with him.
"Is it outside of the norm for somebody like you and I, yes, we're probably family men. I have a wife and kids that I have to look after. He doesn't. So, is it out of the norm? Yes, it is. But, is it crazy? No.
"If he wore a uniform, and he called himself "Special Ops," would he be considered crazy? If he had "Green Beret" on his uniform, would he be considered crazy? That's what the guys do. If he was a Navy SEAL, would he be considered crazy? No. They love adventure. That's the thing about those guys, and they're highly intelligent. So, they take calculated risks. And, Gary, because he has come home, five times now, he takes calculated risks. And he has told me, ' I'm not, I don't want to die on that mountain. If it happens, so be it, but I don't want to die chasing Osama. I would rather bring him in and have him die for his cause in his country'."
Scott Faulkner also hoped his brother wouldn't be charged with a crime.
Faulkner's sister, Deanna M. Faulkner of Grand Junction, Colo., 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.
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.
Bin Laden, who is also reported to have kidney problems, has evaded a massive manhunt since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, which he is accused of masterminding along with other attacks.
The federal government has offered a bounty of 25 (m) million US Dollars for information leading to his capture.
Gary 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.
The Larimer County sheriff released a mug shot from a 2006 arrest on charges of failing to have car insurance.
A family photo of him leaving Denver's airport for Pakistan on May 30 shows him with a beard.
Faulkner told Pakistani police he visited Pakistan seven times, and this was his third trip to Chitral, a mountainous region that attracts adventurous Western tourists and hikers.
Unlike much of northwestern Pakistan, it is considered relatively safe for foreigners.
US embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said the embassy had received notification from Pakistani officials that an American citizen had been arrested.
He said embassy officials were trying to meet the man and confirm his identity.