Bin Laden Can't be in Pakistan: Musharraf

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, July 02, 2002

Bin Laden Can't be in Pakistan: Musharraf

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf expressed doubt Monday that Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan, saying it would be "almost impossible" for him to have escaped detection in Islamabad.

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Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf expressed doubt Monday that Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan, saying it would be "almost impossible" for him to have escaped detection in Islamabad.

"I can't say for sure whether he is dead or alive," Musharraf said. But "one thing I am certain about is that he can't be in Pakistan."

Musharraf, speaking after a meeting with Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said that if bin Laden were alive he would be traveling with a large group of supporters for security, and that such a group would be easy to spot.

For "a large body of people, it is not possible to have sanctuary in Pakistan," Musharraf said.

"He cannot be hiding in one small corner of Pakistan ... remaining there without being found is almost impossible."

Musharraf's remarks come one day after the government made a public appeal for help in hunting down terrorists, in a statement which featured photographs of bin Laden and 17 other al-Qaeda figures. The statement did not say whether bin Laden was believed to be in Pakistan.

Mursharraf's comments also come after last Wednesday's gunbattle between Pakistani troops and suspected al-Qaeda fugitives holed up in the tribal belt along the Pakistani-Afghan border. Ten Pakistani soldiers were killed, officials said. Two al-Qaeda fighters were killed and one captured.

More than 3,000 Pakistani troops are searching for about 40 al-Qaeda suspects who escaped the four-hour clash near Wana, about 190 miles west of Islamabad. At least 20 people have been detained so far.

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