US seeks leads on Bin Laden

Some al-Qaeda suspects may face US military tribunals

US investigators are stepping up efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden by questioning more than 200 members of his al-Qaeda network.

Pakistani intelligence officers and 10 FBI agents have been interrogating 139 al-Qaeda suspects at a prison in Kohat, near the Pakistani border city of Peshawar.

We cannot know how long this struggle will last. But it can end only one way: in victory for America and the cause of freedom

President Bush

President George W Bush has told the American people that the coming year 2002 will require sustained commitment to the war against terrorism.

In Afghanistan, US forces have transferred more than 60 detainees from a jail in the northern town of Shibergan to a larger prison camp in the city of Kandahar.

The number of Taleban and al-Qaeda detainees held at the camp has doubled to more than 120.

Kandahar is the main holding centre for detainees whom the United States wants to question or possibly bring to trial.

Leaders sought

The commander overseeing the prisoner transfer, Major Joseph Fenty, said he was looking for "detainees that we can use for collecting intelligence".

Suspects were transferred to Kandahar amid tight security

The US authorities are trying to find out Bin Laden's whereabouts, obtain information about who should be put on trial and learn more about other terror networks.

The Saudi-born Islamic militant is wanted for the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.

Anti-Taleban Afghan forces and Pakistani intelligence officers have also been looking for leaders of the Taleban or al-Qaeda among their captives.

This month, Pakistan has rounded up at least 150 al-Qaeda suspects who fled the heavy US bombardment of the Tora Bora cave complex in eastern Afghanistan.

"We are sharing with the FBI whatever is possible," a senior Pakistani officer told the Associated Press.

Bush promise

In his last radio address of the year, President Bush said US forces had "successfully fought a new kind of war... to rout a new enemy".

The search for Bin Laden continues in the mountains

"We cannot know how long this struggle will last. But it can end only one way: in victory for America and the cause of freedom."

In the first air strike since Thursday, US forces on Saturday bombed a building in the village of Shekhan in eastern Paktia province.

US air strikes have been sporadic since US forces and their Afghan allies routed al-Qaeda militants in Tora Bora.