Bin Laden alive and well, says Taliban commander

A KEY Taliban commander said that al-Qaida terror network chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar are both alive and in good health after more than three years on the run.

"He is absolutely fine, there is no problem, but I will not tell where he is," Mullah Akhtar Usmani said when asked about bin Laden's fate in an interview broadcast yesterday by Pakistan's private GEO television.

Mullah Omar remained in command of the hardline Islamic Taliban, added Usmani. The militants have launched a fresh onslaught in recent months against the US-led forces who ousted them in late 2001.