Musharraf says Pakistan forces nearly hunted down bin Laden
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-15 13:44

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday his forces believed they nearly hunted down Osama bin Laden about 10 months ago but the trail had since gone cold.

"Through interrogation of those who have been captured, the al Qaeda members who were apprehended here, and through technical means there was a time when the dragnet had closed," Musharraf told the BBC in an interview.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday his forces believed they had nearly hunted down Osama bin Laden about 10 months ago but the trail had since gone cold. Musharraf gestures during his speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Congress Hall in Davos. Picture taken January 22, 2004. [Reuters/file]

"We thought we knew roughly the area where he possibly could be. That was I think ... not very long (ago), maybe about 10 months back," said Musharraf, a close ally in U.S. President George W. Bush's declared war on terrorism.

The BBC quoted Musharraf as saying his forces had since lost track of bin Laden's possible whereabouts.

Some security experts say bin Laden is hiding somewhere in the rugged mountainous border region between Pakistan and Afghanisatan.

On Sunday, Pakistani officials said the country's security forces had mounted a search for suspected al Qaeda foreign fighters in a tribal area near the Afghan border. Ten men were detained for questioning.

Last week, Pakistani soldiers killed two foreign al Qaeda suspects.

Pakistani officials say security forces killed or arrested hundreds of al Qaeda foreign fighters and their local supporters in operations in the South Waziristan region last year.

But they say about 100 are still hiding in the mountainous area and that others have moved into the North Waziristan region.

U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan have been involved in the hunt for bin Laden on Kabul's side of the border.

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