http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_1325946.htm


LONDON, Feb. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- US and British special forces have cornered Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in northwest Pakistan, British newspaper the Sunday Express reported Saturday.

Bin Laden and "up to 50 fanatical henchmen" were cornered in a mountainous area near the Afghanistan border, the report quoted a US intelligence source as saying, adding that US special forces were "absolutely confident" that he could not escape.

Bin Laden moved into the area, 16 kilometers wide and deep "north of the town of Khanozai and the city of Quetta", about one month ago from another area 240 kilometers to the south, the report said.

The area is under surveillance from a geostationary spy satellite while US and British forces await orders to move in.

Al-Qaeda is held responsible for the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001. It has also been suspected of supporting insurgent attacks on US forces in Iraq.

General Richard Meyers, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said Thursday US forces were engaged in "intense" efforts to capture bin Laden