Afghan leader denies al-Qaeda report

More co-operation and information sharing needed: UN

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has contradicted suggestions that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network has set up new training camps in eastern Afghanistan.

There are no large-scale training camps of al-Qaeda or terrorists in Afghanistan

President Hamid Karzai

Mr Karzai, commenting on a UN report that al-Qaeda had activated training camps in the east of the country, said he was "certain there are no large-scale camps in Afghanistan."

However, President Karzai told reporters in the Swedish capital Stockholm on Wednesday that there were individuals and small groups active in his country.

The UN report was released on Tuesday by a team established to monitor "terrorist" activities after the attacks in New York and Washington in September 2001.

The report said although significant progress had been made in the US-led campaign against al-Qaeda, it still posed a substantial global threat.

Numbers unknown

President Karzai said some people hiding in Afghanistan occasionally come out and "do certain things like they did yesterday in Kabul, throwing a grenade at a jeep carrying American soldiers."

Mr Karzai says only small groups remain

He said such small incidents would continue for a long time but the major activities of the past had ended.

However, the UN report says despite progress made in combating al-Qaeda, stronger and more co-ordinated efforts are needed by the international community.

The leader of the expert group, Michael Chandler, told reporters the main danger was posed by al-Qaeda members who had already been trained, and had melted back into society.

He said there were no precise numbers available of al-Qaeda operatives worldwide "but the figure of 10,000, is tossed around".

Weapons worries

The main theme of his report - the group's third - is the need for countries to share information more effectively in order to combat what is still described as a substantial threat to global peace and security.

Bin Laden's network is 'still financially viable': the UN

It stresses the need for governments to provide names to the UN consolidated list of those associated with al-Qaeda and the Taleban so law-enforcers can know who to go after.

So far, 92 groups and 232 people are named, and another 104 people are named in the report as possible members who have not been listed by governments.

Mr Chandler said levels of co-operation can be improved, but he said several governments, including Saudi Arabia, had moved against charities that fund al-Qaeda.

He also praised the widespread co-operation which led to the break-up of the cells thought to be behind the Bali bombing.

However the report also noted that al-Qaeda continued to have access to "substantial quantities" of arms and explosives, and expressed deep concern at the risk of the network acquiring weapons of mass destruction or a dirty bomb.