- Troops searching for Osama Bin Laden along Pakistan's
border with Afghanistan have no idea where he is, says Pakistan leader
Pervez Musharraf.
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- Recent intelligence proved that the al-Qaeda leader was
alive, Gen Musharraf told the Washington Post, but "we don't know
where he is."
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- Thousands of Pakistani troops have been deployed in the
border areas.
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- Gen Musharraf, a key ally in the war on terror, is now
in the UK after talks in Washington with President Bush.
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- Three-year search
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- In an interview published on Sunday, Gen Musharraf admitted
there were no active leads on the whereabouts of the al-Qaeda leader.
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- Any suggestion of Bin Laden's location would be a guess,
he said.
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- Pressed by the Washington Post on whether the trail had
gone cold, he said: "Yes, if you mean we don't know, from that point
of view, we don't know where he is."
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- But he said the US shared responsibility, because the
US-led coalition did not have sufficient troops in Afghanistan, which had
left "voids".
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- He called for recruitment and training for the Afghan
army to be stepped up.
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- Gen Musharraf also denied reports that Pakistani troops
were being pulled back from the mountainous South Waziristan tribal area,
long suspected as a possible hiding place for Bin Laden and his deputy
Ayman al-Zawahiri.
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- The three-year hunt for the al-Qaeda leader is one of
the most sensitive issues between Pakistan and the US but Mr Bush was full
of praise for Gen Musharraf.
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- "His army has been incredibly active and very brave
in southern Waziristan, flushing out an enemy that had thought they had
found safe haven," Mr Bush said after their talks on Saturday.
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- Video warning
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- Correspondents say that US officials have sought to play
down Bin Laden's significance in the wider war on terror - a change in
their stance in immediate aftermath of the 11 September attacks.
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- At the time, President Bush declared that there was no
hiding place for the al-Qaeda leader who was "Wanted: Dead or Alive".
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- The last appearance of Bin Laden was just before the
US election on 2 November, in a videotape in which he threatened fresh
attacks on America whoever was elected.
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- He appeared in good health in the tape but it was not
clear when it was recorded.
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- © BBC MMIV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4070557.stm
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