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Osama is still alive, say ISI officers

Laden was hiding in Tora Bora after fleeing Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, but left before US forces started bombing the cave complex, and may still be hiding somewhere in Afghanistan, a report said quoting Pakistani intelligence sources.

Reports of Laden's presence in Tora Bora during the bombing were part of an elaborate hoax designed to camouflage his real whereabouts, Time magazine said on Thursday in a report on its Web site.

Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence officers said Laden moved from Tora Bora to Nazian, another remote town in the White Mountains near the Pakistan border, and is still hiding somewhere in Afghanistan.

The ISI officers also conceded that a number of Al Qaeda operatives had sneaked into Pakistan, taking refuge in the wild tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and in some cities.

American officers believed during the raids on Tora Bora that radio communications among Al Qaeda elements defending the caves pointed to Laden being in the area.

The suspected terrorist mastermind was last seen leaving Jalalabad on November 17 in anticipation of the imminent collapse of the Taliban regime, the magazine said.

The officers said Laden headed for the mountains with 25 vehicles, including four trucks carrying his family members and personal belongings.

Others accompanying him were his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, senior Taliban officials from eastern Afghanistan, including Jalalabad governor Mullah Abdul Kabir, and other operatives.

PTI

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