Hunt stepped up for Bin Laden

Pakistani and US forces have intensified the search for Osama bin Laden along a south-western stretch of the border with Afghanistan following information from a newly captured al-Qaida deputy, Pakistani intelligence and military officials say.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, thought to be the No 3 figure in the terror network, told interrogators he met bin Laden just weeks ago in a rendezvous set up through a network of phone calls and intermediaries, an intelligence official said yesterday.