Pakistan claims net closing in on bin Laden

By PHIL REEVES in Islamabad

Pakistan's intelligence chiefs said yesterday that the net was closing in on Osama bin Laden and confirmed that a senior al Qaeda suspect captured last week claimed to have met bin Laden in December.

"We appear to be just hours behind him [bin Laden]," an official said, citing evidence gathered from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other suspected al Qaeda members.

A senior Pakistani intelligence official was quoted as saying: "One suspect met with Osama in September, and Khalid Sheikh said he met him in December. We were months behind, then weeks and now hours behind him."

In Islamabad, the usually secretive Inter-Services-Intelligence (ISI) organisation put its version of events surrounding the arrest of Mohammed, al Qaeda's alleged chief operations planner, amid a thickening fog of conspiracy theories and rumours swirling around the hunt for bin Laden.

After a week of reports from unnamed "sources" about what Mohammed - alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks - had told his interrogators, the ISI urged caution against drawing conclusions.

A senior ISI officer said that Mohammed held out against his interrogators for two days, but on the third day began to talk, eventually producing his much-publicised claim to have met bin Laden in December.

But the intelligence officer said that he would not believe that until the captive, who is now in US hands, supplied more details. "I don't believe him unless he tells us the locations and gives us witnesses," he said.

Another al Qaeda suspect arrested by Pakistan has also told the ISI that he met bin Laden in September, claiming to have been taken to a rendezvous blindfolded. According to Pakistani intelligence, there were "indications", that the al Qaeda leader may still be hiding in Afghanistan.

But, again, the ISI says it is unsure whether to believe this. It is thought likely al Qaeda might try to conceal the facts if bin Laden had died.

The ISI also cast doubt on reports that Mohammed had been carrying letters written by bin Laden.

Handwritten notes had been found in his possession, which Mohammed said were written by bin Laden. "But how can we be sure if we haven't seen his writing?" said the intelligence official.

The ISI is keen to counter criticism that it is not doing enough in the US-led hunt for al Qaeda and the Taleban - particularly at a time when Pakistan is under added pressure from the US not to vote against a new UN resolution over Iraq.

The agency proudly announced that it had arrested 442 foreign al Qaeda suspects since September 11, 2001, handing 346 over to US custody.

The agency showed a grainy video purporting to show the pre-dawn raid 10 days ago in which Mohammed was seized at a house in Rawalpindi along with Ahmed al-Hawsawi, allegedly a key player in the financing of the September 11 hijackings.

There were suspicions among the media in Islamabad that the video was a reconstruction, adding to speculation that the timing and location of his arrest have yet to be revealed.

- INDEPENDENT