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Now, American commanders say protecting the
country's fragile new democracy, reviving its
economy and keeping Taliban militants on the run
are the priorities, though tracking the cold trail
of bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders remains
the focus of intelligence efforts.
The United States has used spies, informers,
electronic listening devices and surveillance from
the air. However, American officials acknowledge
that videotapes featuring a sprightly looking bin
Laden -- released days before the Nov. 2 election
in the United States -- and his deputy Ayman
al-Zawahri, have yielded no clues to their
whereabouts.
"They're pretty sterile in terms of
intelligence value," said Maj. Gen. Eric
Olson, the operational commander of U.S. forces
here.
Despite initial high expectations on the other
side of the border, Pakistan's yearlong crackdown
against foreign militants near the tribal town of
Wana also has yielded no trace of bin Laden or
al-Zawahri.
"We have no specific indication that they
are in the Wana area or really any other
location" in the region, Olson said.
"But the hunt goes on."
American generals have had three years to rue
how the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11
attacks slipped away from Afghan and U.S. troops
near the Tora Bora caves of Afghanistan's eastern
mountains that December.
French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie,
who has special forces patrolling farther south,
claimed last month that bin Laden narrowly escaped
as recently as mid-2003.
ORIGINAL
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