Bin Laden, Zawahiri hiding in Pakistan: report

WASHINGTON: Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are believed to be hiding near each other in relative comfort in northwest Pakistan, a senior NATO official told CNN on Monday.

The two men are believed to be living in homes near one another and are protected by members of Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI, and locals, the network reported. Pakistan strongly denies protecting members of the terror network.

“Nobody in Al Qaeda is living in a cave,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying.

Bin Laden is believed to have escaped from Afghanistan’s Tora Bora region, a Taliban stronghold, during a U.S. bombing raid in 2001 and has moved around Pakistan since.

The official told CNN the Al Qaeda leader is likely to have traveled in recent years throughout the country’s rugged tribal region from near the Chinese border to neighboring

Afghanistan Taliban Deny Meeting With UN

KABUL: The Taliban denied Saturday that leaders of the group fighting to overthrow the Afghan government had met with UN representatives to discuss bringing peace to Afghanistan.

The Taliban issued a statement branding reports of a meeting with the UN’s outgoing special representative to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, in Dubai this month as “rumours” and “propaganda”.

Referring to itself as “the leading council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” — as it did during its 1996-2001 rule of Afghanistan — the group said the reports were “propaganda by the invading forces against the jihad and mujahideen”.

“The leading council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly denies the rumours reported by some international media about talks between Kai Eide and representatives of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” the Taliban said.

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Afghanistan Taliban Deny Meeting With UN was first posted on January 30, 2010 at 3:08 pm.