Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar not in Afghanistan: US envoy

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2005

KABUL (AFP) — Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar are not in Afghanistan, the US ambassador said, a day after a top Taliban commander said the pair were alive and well.

"Mullah Omar is not in Afghanistan. I do not believe that Osama is in Afghanistan," envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told a press conference.

Khalilzad did not say where the two were thought to be hiding but added that the hunt for bin Laden continued.

"Symbolically, it is very important that he is brought to justice," he said, adding that progress had been made in the fight against the Al-Qaeda network, with some of its top leaders arrested and its financial capabilities weakened.

A Taliban commander, Mullah Akhtar Usmani, told Pakistan's private GEO...