Osama bin Laden not hiding in Afghanistan: Minister

KABUL - Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is not hiding inside Afghanistan, an Afghan cabinet minister has said.

Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasoul Sunday denied having any knowledge of the terrorist leader’s whereabouts, saying: “Regarding bin Laden, I can say he is not in Afghanistan, because if he was in Afghanistan, he would have been found”.

“Where is he I don’t know, but he is not in Afghanistan and I can assure you that,” Rasoul was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

The Afghan minister said his country was engaged in close discussions with Pakistan in order to reach a solution to combat terrorism, because Pakistan, in his view, was also a target for terrorist operations.