Yesterday Interior Minister Yunis Qanooni, interviewed on Iranian television, directly accused the ISI of helping the suspected terrorist mastermind escape capture.

Zadran slammed what he called interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs.

"If Pakistan, which helped the mujahedin in the past, interferes in our borders, they will become enemies," he said.

He voiced suspicion about Pakistani activities.

"We have noticed that Pakistani agents from the Inter Services Intelligence are active on the border. They claim to be looking for Osama bin Laden but we do not know exactly what their objective is or if they are telling the truth." He added: "At this stage of looking for Osama bin Laden, we need these foreigners (troops from the International Security Assistance Force), and funding during the second stage to stop drug trafficking."

Qanooni in his interview said the ISI was monitoring bin Laden's trips to Pakistan.

"Undoubtedly they knew what was going on. The fact that there has not been any reaction and that (bin Laden) has not been arrested, indicates that he is somehow being supported by the Pakistani ISI."

But the interior minister added that the attitude of Pakistan's political leadership was "distinct to that of the ISI".

"According to our latest information, he is still doing what he was doing before. It means that they are not in a fixed location," Qanooni said.

"When he is outside Afghanistan, he mainly goes to Pakistan. He has also been spotted in one of the eastern areas of Afghanistan. That means that they are on the move. They are not in a fixed location. They are mainly in Pakistan and possibly in Afghanistan."

Today defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Habeel repeated earlier claims by his ministry that bin Laden was using the Pakistani border town of Peshawar as a base.

"He is definitely in Peshawar under the protection of (militant party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam head) Fazelur Rahman," Habeel said.

"Our intelligence is absolutely accurate, we even have the names of those Taliban commanders who helped Osama to get to the other side of the border," he said. Jamiat has denied the claim.

Habeel said Afghanistan should no longer be held responsible for arresting bin Laden.

"We are no longer responsible, he has already left our country. From now on this is the responsibility of the Pakistani government. It must cooperate with the US in arresting Osama."

http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/311201/dlame01.asp