Taliban chief 'hasn't seen bin Laden'

Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar has said he has not seen Osama bin Laden since US-backed forces ousted the Taliban from Afghanistan…

Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar has said he has not seen Osama bin Laden since US-backed forces ousted the Taliban from Afghanistan in late 2001.

"No, I have neither seen him, nor have I made any effort to do so, but I pray for his health and safety," Omar said in an e-mailed response to questions sent by the Reuters.

A half-dozen audio tapes of bin Laden were circulated during the first half of 2006, but the al-Qaeda leader last appeared on video tape in late 2004, while tapes of his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, have been issued regularly.

A video tape of bin Laden was released late last year, but it was identified as old footage, and the fifth anniversary of the September 11th, 2001, attacks on the United States passed without any word from the al-Qaeda leader.

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Speculation over the whereabouts and health of bin Laden grew in September when a French provincial newspaper reported that he had died of typhoid in late August.

Several governments and intelligence agencies rebutted that report, saying they had no evidence to suggest bin Laden had died but conceding they did not know where he was.

If alive, Bin Laden is thought to be somewhere on the rugged border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Bin Laden helped bankroll the Taliban after moving to Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, and he reportedly married one of Omar's daughters to cement their alliance.