Bin Laden believed to be alive - US commander
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-12-09 14:19

The top US commander in Afghanistan said al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is still believed to be alive and US forces will not rest until he is captured or killed.

Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry said there was no reason to believe Bin Laden was killed in the earthquake that ravaged Pakistan October 8.

"Our working assumption is that he is alive today," Eikenberry told reporters here on Thursday. "I will not speculate on his location."

US military leaders past have tended to downplay Bin Laden's significance despite his leading role in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

They have suggested in the past that the Saudi-born militant, who has eluded the US military for four years, posed less of a threat because he was holed up in the mountains of Pakistan.

But Eikenberry said it was important to the American people, the international community and Afghanistan that he brought to justice.

"And our forces will not rest until he is either found and captured or killed," he said.