Omar 'hasn't seen Bin Laden for years'

1-8-2007

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar has added to the mystery over Osama bin Laden, saying he hasn't seen his ally and fellow fugitive since US-backed forces toppled the Taliban from Afghanistan in late 2001.

"No, I have neither seen him, nor have I made any effort to do so, but I pray for his health and safety," Omar said in an e-mailed response to questions.

The questions were relayed to Omar through his spokesman Mohammad Hanif, and a reply was received late on Wednesday.

A half-dozen audio tapes of Bin Laden were circulated during the first half of 2006, but the Al Qaeda leader last appeared on video tape in late 2004, while tapes of his deputy, Ayman Al Zawahiri, have been issued regularly.

Speculation over the whereabouts and health of Bin Laden boiled over in September when a French provincial newspaper reported that he had died of typhoid in late August.

Though several governments and intelligence agencies rebutted that report, saying they had no evidence to suggest Bin Laden had died, nor did they have any clue to where he was.

Omar said people from the Pashtun tribal belt straddling the border were rallying to the Taliban's cause. "The people themselves have risen up to fight the Americans," he said.

Omar said his sole focus was Afghanistan while Bin Laden's movement was engaged in a global jihad.

To start a political process to end the militancy, Pakistan and Afghanistan plan to organise tribal councils - known as jirgas - on both sides of the border. A Taliban spokesman last month said the group might join the jirgas if asked, but Omar rejected the proposal.

l Afghanistan and Pakistan remained at odds about the laying of mines on their shared border after top-level talks with President Hamid Karzai noting a "widening gap" between the neighbours.

Karzai also told reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz he was "not satisfied" with Pakistan's efforts to organise an agreed tribal council to discuss the worsening Taliban insurgency