Bin Laden 'is alive'

2005-05-20 08:20

Islamabad - The world's most wanted fugitive is alive and on the run with a small group of fighters, Pakistan's foreign minister said, claiming army operations had "paralysed" al-Qaeda's communication network and its ability to attack.

"Osama bin Laden is alive and moving around from place to place, but not with a large group of people," a news report Friday quoted Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri as saying.

Kasuri wouldn't say whether Pakistan possessed specific information on the whereabouts of the al-Qaeda chief, accused by the United States of orchestrating the September 11 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

Kasuri said late on Thursday that Pakistan's army had "paralysed al-Qaeda's communication network," and vastly reduced its capability to strike, according to the English-language newspaper The News.

Pakistan's intelligence service captured Abu Farraj al-Libbi, reputed to be al-Qaeda's No 3 leader, on May 2.

Al-Libbi - who remains in Pakistan's custody - was wanted for allegedly masterminding two December 2003 assassination attempts against President General Pervez Musharraf, who escaped unharmed. Seventeen other people were killed, however.

Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, has handed over more than 700 al-Qaeda suspects to US officials, including al-Qaeda's then-No 3 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was arrested in March 2003 during a raid near Islamabad.

Two other alleged al-Qaeda leaders, Ramzi Binalshibh and Abu Zubaydah, were also arrested in Pakistan.

- AP