'Fleeing bin laden could shave off beard'

An expert on Osama bin Laden has said the chief terror suspect could make his escape from Afghanistan by shaving off his beard.

Journalist Simon Reeve, who wrote a book about America's number one terrorist suspect, said lax security arrangements by Pakistani guards could mean a small group could pass by undetected.

The Afghan terrain makes it easy to hide and travel unnoticed the writer said.

Mr Reeve, who wrote the book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism, said: "He could be east around Jalalabad or south around Kandahar. Nobody knows. There's bound to be remarks that he's left the country."

He said Kandahar was only 50 miles from Pakistan and with no real border controls bin Laden could shave off his beard and travel in disguise with a small group of supporters.

"Pakistan is very good at stopping large troop movements over the border but find it very hard to stop small groups of refugees, or al Qaida, under cover of darkness over a mountain pass," Mr Reeve said.

The Pakistani province of Baluchistan, described by the journalist as a "very lawless" area, could be one destination for bin Laden if he does want to flee.

"He has extensive links there, many of his followers come from the area and from there he could get to the coast and travel by sea to Somalia or Yemen - countries where he has enormous support," Mr Reeve added.

He said other modes of transport apart from an off-road vehicle could be by horse, as bin Laden loved to ride, or by foot."