Security leaks dog search for Bin Laden

3.00pm - By ANDREW GUMBEL

Pakistani troops backed by experts from the US Central Intelligence Agency were reported to be stepping up the hunt for Osama bin Laden in an area of rugged mountains and desert at the junction of the Afghan, Iranian and Pakistani borders.

But the search, which has been in full swing since last week's arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man believed to be al-Qa'ida's operational commander, appears to have been hampered by security leaks, claims and counter-claims that have given the fugitives valuable clues about their pursuers' intentions and put considerable strain on US-Pakistani co-operation.

While some Pakistani security officials are giving journalists detailed reports about the manhunt, others are denying that it is happening at all. Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, and the country's Information Minister, Rashid Ahmed, have insisted - somewhat implausibly - that Mr bin Laden cannot be in Pakistan.

The latest reports suggested that Pakistani ground forces, guided by helicopters, were scouring an area of roughly 150 square miles in the province of Baluchistan. According to Pakistani security officials, this area was indicated as a possible hiding place for Mr bin Laden's suspected No 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in letters and other documents found at the time of Mohammed's arrest.

An operation in the Ribat area of Baluchistan on Friday was said to have led to a firefight in which seven al-Qa'ida suspects were killed. One much-contested report suggested that the standoff led to the arrest of one or two of Mr bin Laden's sons - a story that the home minister for Baluchistan, Sanaullah Zehri, has stuck by, despite vehement denials from both Islamabad and Washington.

At issue are several competing, and contradictory, Pakistani priorities. Sensitive to the strong anti-American strain in Pakistani public opinion, President Musharraf has consistently sought to minimise the degree of US co-operation in the hunt for al-Qa'ida leaders. In return, US officials have generally been willing to understate their own role.

At the same time, elements in Pakistan's security apparatus with long-standing ties to the Taleban and al-Qa'ida, as well as links to Islamist political parties, have an interest in publicising counter- terrorist operations as loudly as possible so fugitives like Mr bin Laden and Mr al-Zawahiri have every chance to keep running.

Yesterday, Ahmed Abdul Qadoos, at whose house in Rawalpindi Mohammed was arrested, appeared in an anti-terrorist court and was remanded for three days. He is said to be a member of Pakistan's oldest and most organised religious group Jamaat-e-Islami, which is connected to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

It was far from clear yesterday whether the story about Mr bin Laden's sons being arrested was an unsubstantiated rumour, a piece of deliberate disinformation designed to act as a tip-off, or a genuine report that the Americans are anxious to keep quiet until they have had a chance to exploit its intelligence value.

US officials are concerned that Mohammed's arrest might hasten plans already in the works to hit American targets at home or abroad - possibly coinciding with the anticipated onset of hostilities in Iraq. Since Mohammed's arrest in the unlikely surroundings of Rawalpindi - the headquarters of the Pakistani armed forces and the home of President Musharraf - there have been quiet grumblings from US intelligence officials about the apparent willingness of Pakistani officials to publicise their exploits.

Commenting on the immediate announcement of Mohammed's capture, one senior security official told the Washington Post: "It was somewhat confounding, frankly." From an intelligence point of view, it would have been much better to keep Mohammed's arrest secret until intelligence experts had had a chance to conduct an initial interrogation and go through the letters, address books and other documents found with him.

The security official quoted by the Post said there was some merit in the idea of announcing the arrest and then watching to see where Mr bin Laden might run to - to "flush the birds and see what flies".

- INDEPENDENT