Bin Laden 'missing'

Alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is missing and Taliban authorities have been unable to locate him for the past two days, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan said today.

Abdul Salam Zaeef said Taliban chief, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had sent emissaries to inform bin Laden of a decision on Thursday by the country’s Muslim clergy that he should leave the country voluntarily at a time of his choosing.

Zaeef said Taliban authorities had been searching for bin Laden for the past two days ‘‘but he has not been traced’’.