No indication of Osama bin Laden's whereabouts

In an interview published on Sunday Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said that the search for al Qaeda leader &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2002/10/16/38235.html ' target=_blank>Osama bin Laden has gone cold and there is no indication of his whereabouts.

Musharraf said Pakistani forces were still aggressively pursuing bin Laden but that recent security operations and interrogation had determined only that he was still alive.

"He is alive, but more than that, where he is, no, it'll be just a guess and it won't have much basis," Musharraf was quoted as saying in the interview, informs Reuters.

The hunt for &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/397/13821_AlQaeda.html ' target=_blank>Al Qaeda is also foundering because of the diffuse array of groups under its umbrella. Pakistani forces are usually not even certain who or what factions they are pursuing in the treacherous tribal regions along its border with Afghanistan, Musharraf said, speaking shortly after a meeting with President Bush.

"Now, when we operate in many areas, we don't know who we are operating against and suddenly we find out that, OK, we've got [or] we've killed so-and-so," Musharraf said. Sometimes Pakistani forces just "bump into them," he added, reports Boston Globe.

According to The Age, the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/letters/2003/02/11/43227.html ' target=_blank>Bush administration played down any tension over continuing efforts by US investigators to learn more about the black market nuclear technology network run by Pakistan's premier scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan.

US officials believe Dr Khan has not been fully candid in disclosing the scope of his help to nations, such as Libya, seeking to develop nuclear bombs.