OSAMA bin Laden has left Afghanistan, a Pakistani newspaper reported on Friday, citing various unidentified sources and a former interior minister of Pakistan.
The News daily reported that the Saudi-born militant left the country on Monday, ahead of a meeting of Afghan Islamic clerics to discuss whether to extradite him.
The meeting ended on Thursday with the adoption of an edict asking Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to persuade bin Laden to leave the country voluntarily.
The News said former interior minister Naseerullah Babar had also claimed that bin Laden had left four days ago. Babar, who was not quoted directly, could not immediately be reached for confirmation.
The paper admitted that it could not confirm its report with the Taliban leadership.
It quoted a source ”close to the Taliban” as saying: Osama has left Afghanistan four days ago and is no longer in the country. I believe the news is not wrong. He must be out of Afghan soil.”
Speculation that bin Laden has left the country has been rife since the clerics announced their unexpected ruling on Thursday after two days of debate.
Until then, the Taliban leadership and the clerics had given no indication that they would ask him to leave, encouraging speculation that the meeting was a stalling tactic designed to give bin Laden time to get out.
The Taliban has refused repeated requests to extradite bin Laden to face trial in connection with the 1998 bombing of two US embassies in Africa, for which he has been indicted in New York.
The United States regards him as the chief suspect in the investigation into last week’s attacks on New York and Washington. – Sapa-AFP