Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of the alleged terrorist leader, Mr Osama bin Laden, amid scepticism about reports by the Taliban militia that he has gone missing inside Afghanistan.
Officials in Washington said yesterday they could not confirm reports that the man accused of masterminding last year's deadly US embassy bombings had already left the country. Diplomatic sources in Pakistan and here speculated that Mr bin Laden, who has been living under the Islamic militia's protection in Afghanistan, could still be in the country but trying to arrange a hideout in Dubai or Iraq.
He would be travelling with an entourage consisting mainly of guards from Egypt and Turkey and would most likely follow the smugglers' route overland through either Pakistan or Iran.
One diplomatic source in Pakistan said: "We think he could still be in Afghanistan but he will definitely be looking at getting out of the country through private support. No government will help. Capture would be too easy in Chechnya but in Dubai, where he has many private supporters, he could hide. News reports have said that Iraq might be prepared to take him. But could he trust Saddam Hussein?"
The source said a combination of pressure from Pakistan, British diplomacy and Mr bin Laden's own bad behaviour as a "welcomed guest" of the Taliban had forced him to flee.
The highest authority in Afghanistan's Taliban regime, Mullah Mohammed Omar, said last night that the whereabouts of Mr bin Ladin remained a mystery.
Speaking for the first time on the issue, Mullah Omar stressed Mr bin Laden had not been forced out of Afghanistan. "We never forced Osama to leave the country. He was free to go to any country he wanted," he told the official radio, Shariat.
A Taliban spokesman, Mr Tayeb Khan, said at the weekend Mr Bin Laden had not been forced out of the country in response to pressure from the US, which wants him to stand trial for the bombing of two US embassies in east Africa last August, which left more than 200 people dead.
Mr Bin Laden (42) launched three fatwas (religious decrees) between 1996 and 1998, declaring a holy war against the US presence in Saudi Arabia. He has made new threats since the US and British bombing campaign in Iraq in December.