Bin Laden still in Afghanistan

2004-12-12 22:47

Kabul - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday that Osama bin Laden is "definitely" in the region and would eventually be caught, even though American and Pakistani generals insist the trail is cold.

"It's very difficult to say where he is hiding. He cannot be away from this region. He's definitely in this region," Karzai told CNN's Weekend Edition.

"We will get him sooner or later, trust me on that."

Speculation on bin Laden's whereabouts has long focused on the mountains along the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the al-Qaeda leader slipped away from Afghan and US forces three years ago.

Pakistan's army has mounted a series of bloody offensives against foreign fighters near the border this year, and American forces launched a winter-long operation last week against Taliban rebels on the Afghan side.

But there has been no indication that they are close to seizing the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks that prompted US President George W Bush to launch Operation Enduring Freedom with an assault on Afghanistan.

Pressed in the CNN interview, recorded on Sunday in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Karzai declined to say whether bin Laden could be in Afghanistan, or in Pakistan.

He said he knew of no suggestion the al-Qaeda leader could be in neighboring Iran.

"But we can definitely say he's around this region and he can't run forever," Karzai said.

- AP