Osama bin Laden still alive, Taliban commander says

dpa German Press Agency Published: Thursday March 1, 2007

Kabul- The leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the
world's number one fugitive, Osama bin Laden, is still alive, a top
Taliban commander claimed in a rare interview.
"We know he is still alive," Mullah Dadullah, chief of the
resurgent movement's military operations, told Britain's Channel 4
television in comments broadcast Wednesday.

"He is not yet martyred," Dadullah said at a secret location in
Afghanistan.

Speaking in Pashtu, he added that he had not personally seen bin
Laden since the Taliban was ousted from power by US-led forces just
over five years ago.

"Our comrades stand shoulder to shoulder with us," he said of
current relations between the Taliban and al-Qaeda. "They keep us
informed."

The United States is offering a reward of 25 million dollars for
information leading to the capture of bin Laden, who Washington holds
responsible for the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington
on September 11, 2001.

He is widely believed to have escaped from eastern Afghanistan
into Pakistan's mountainous tribal region at the end of that year
when a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban.

Contrary to US intelligence agency claims, Pakistan said there is
no evidence to suggest that leaders of the Taliban or al-Qaeda are
hiding on its territory.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency