'We're sure to catch bin Laden soon' - US commander

The United States military is “sure” it will catch Osama bin Laden this year, a spokesman said today.

Thursday, but he declined to comment on where exactly the al-Qaida leader may be hiding.

Bin Laden, chief suspect in the massacres in the US on September 11, 2001, that sparked the invasion of Afghanistan two years ago, is widely believed to be hiding somewhere along the mountainous Pakistani-Afghan border.

American commanders in Afghanistan have expressed new optimism they will eventually find him following the capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Military spokesman Lt Col Bryan Hilferty said the military now believed it could seize him within months.

“We have a variety of intelligence and we’re sure we’re going to catch Osama bin Laden and (fugitive Taliban leader) Mullah Omar this year,” Hilferty said.

“We’ve learned lessons from Iraq and we’re getting improved intelligence from the Afghan people.”

Hilferty declined to comment on where exactly bin Laden or Mullah Omar might be hiding, but his optimism coincides with comments from US officials in Washington that the military is planning a spring offensive against Taliban and al Qaida holdouts.

American forces are pinning hopes for better intelligence from locals on new security teams setting up in provincial capitals across a the troubled southern and eastern areas of Afghanistan close to the border.

The security teams are supposed to open the way for millions of dollars in US development aid and allow the Afghan government to return to lawless areas largely populated by ethnic Pashtuns, from which the Taliban drew their main support.

About 70 people have died in violence this month alone, including two international peacekeepers killed by suicide bombers in the relatively peaceful capital, Kabul. The Taliban claimed responsibility for those attacks.

The spring offensive mooted by US defence officials on Wednesday would come just when the new teams are to be up and running, and warmer weather opens the high passes through which insurgents slip.