US and Pakistani intelligence experts have agreed to work together to track down Osama bin Laden in a move sure to anger Pakistanis who support the Saudi exile.
The accord, which came after three days of talks between a visiting US Department of Defense team and its Pakistani counterparts, is a boost to US efforts to find bin Laden.
The talks are understood to have focused largely on the extent of Pakistan's large intelligence community's knowledge of Afghanistan, the military capabilities of the ruling Taliban and the location of bin Laden.
"The delegation left with a whole range of information on bin Laden, his network and his support bases in Pakistan," a Pakistani intelligence source said.
The US team was also briefed on the situation in Pakistan and the possibility of retaliation by militant groups in the event of a US operation against Afghanistan.
Bin Laden has been based in Afghanistan since 1996. but the Taliban has been claiming since last week it does not know where he is. This has led to speculation he may already have left the country.
AFP