Bin Laden 'safe inside Afghanistan'

The Taleban say they still hold Kandahar

Islamic militant Osama Bin Laden is safe and well inside Afghanistan, according to a spokesman for Taleban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Our leaders are in good health and are safe

Taleban spokesman Mohammed Tayyab Agha

Mohammed Tayyab Agha told the BBC that Mullah Omar and Bin Laden were both in good health.

Mr Agha also denied reports that the Taleban were losing control over the stronghold of Kandahar in south-western Afghanistan, to which they have retreated.

He said their grip on Kandahar and the provinces of Helmand and Oruzgan was strong.

There have been reports that the airport at Kandahar is under the control of an anti-Taleban force, and that they have abandoned Oruzgan.

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Mr Agha said Taleban forces had left those cities now under Northern Alliance control in order "to avoid civilian casualties".

He said that the US bombing had caused so many Afghans to die that the Taleban feared there would be more casualties unless they left.

He said this was a "strategic retreat", adding that the Taleban would try to recapture those areas lost to the alliance.

Mr Agha also denied reports that the Taleban had abandoned foreign fighters such as Arabs and Pakistanis on the frontline, adding that they had been told about the Taleban decision to retreat.

The Afghan Islamic Press agency - which has close links with the Taleban - quoted another spokesman, Mullah Abdullah, as saying there was no change in their position on Bin Laden.

The US says the aim of its war against terror is to bring him to justice and dismantle his al-Qaeda network, blamed for the attacks on New York and Washington in September.