Bin Laden 'may have already fled Afghanistan'

Osama bin Laden may have fled Afghanistan four days ago, according to reports.

A highly-placed source in the city of Peshawar has said he left four days ago.

Journalists working in Pakistan have said that bin Laden escaped while the Taliban discussed whether to extradite him.

A source said: "The bird has flown. They officially asked him to leave today, but he left four days ago."

Intelligence sources say bin Laden may have become mixed among hundreds of thousands of Afghans gathered along the Pakistan border.

"Given the massive exodus of refugees fleeing Afghanistan, it would not have been too difficult for Laden to escape to either Pakistan or Iran, though both nations have officially sealed their borders with Afghanistan," said the source.

Dawn, a Pakistani daily newspaper, earlier said bin Laden had taken "an oath of allegiance from 500 of his Arab supporters in Kabul before shifting to some other place".

Quoting a source in Kabul, the report says he took the oath at Chahar-i-Ansari in Kabul before saying goodbye to his followers and disappearing with his bodyguards on horses.