'Laden living in safe place in Afghanistan'

Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar is also living inside Afghanistan and has recently sent an envoy to three Gulf states, including Kuwait, to collect donations from Jihad (holy war) sympathizers, the sources said.

An unnamed person met Omar two weeks ago and also saw bin Laden some two and a half months ago and told the sources the al-Qaeda leader was in good spirits.

"Sheikh Abu Abdullah (bin Laden) is in good health and high morale. He lives along with four people in a safe place with an Afghan tribe that provides him with all means of comfort and safety," the sources quoted the man as saying.

"Sheikh Osama lives in an area northeast of Kabul and closely follows the military actions of his followers," he added.

Bin Laden's number two Ayman al-Zawahiri also lives in Afghanistan but in an area far away from where the al-Qaeda leader is hiding, the sources said. The two leaders exchange information and coordinate through well-trusted men.

Both the Taliban and al-Qaeda are currently "regrouping" in preparation to launch "qualitative" attacks against US forces in Afghanistan, the sources added.

An envoy for Omar secretly visited three Gulf states, including Kuwait, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began on October 15, and collected donations from Jihad sympathizers, said the sources.

His visit was arranged and facilitated by local contacts.

al-Qaeda is not capable at present of carrying out military attacks in Iraq, disputing statements by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi that bin Laden had sent one of his followers to command operations in Iraq, the sources said.

Bin Laden threatened the United States with attacks similar to September 11, 2001 and accused President George W. Bush of "misleading" his people, in a video message aired Friday just days ahead of the US presidential election.

Meanwhile, US forces in Afghanistan said yesterday they believe Osama bin Laden, who has appeared in a video for the first time in 13 months, is still roaming along the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan.