ISLAMABAD, Sept 3: US counter-terrorism officials believe that the recent spate of Al Qaeda arrests in Pakistan have provided significant clues, which could lead to "guaranteed" arrest of Osama bin Laden and his other top associates.

This was revealed to a select group of journalists at the US information centre here on Friday by the Coordinator of the US Department of State Office of Counter-Terrorism, Cofer Black, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Crime at the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Steven Patrick Schrage.

In reply to a question about Osama bin Laden, Mr Black said "success against people that you know about, Osama bin Laden and others, could happen tomorrow, could happen day after, a week from now, or a month from now. The thing is everything is in place. A little bit is needed to localise these people and to catch them."

He said he would be surprised but not shocked to know one fine morning that Osama and all his lieutenants had been caught and that these guys were in jail. "It will be a good day for the average men and women of this planet in terms of counter-terrorism," he said.

When asked if the significant arrests in Pakistan during the past few months had provided any leads to Osama bin Laden and his other top wanted associates, Mr Black said, "Yes. Yes. Sure it is important. These are big fish. We are safer. They are no longer free to do their evil deeds. Are we closer to getting Osama bin Laden? Yes."

Mr Black said in the US people have come to appreciate this because President Bush has said the US is going to catch Osama bin Laden. "Guaranteed. No questions about it. When exactly, I can't say. It could be tomorrow or later," said Mr Black.

He said the programmes were already in place to catch Osama. He said the war against terrorism would not end with the arrest of Osama. "When Osama is arrested and detained, we still have to change the equation so that innocent women and children are safe."

In reply to a question if the US had given any specific task to Pakistan to capture Osama before the US presidential elections scheduled for early November, Mr Black said, the US did not give tasks to Pakistan. He said Pakistan was a sovereign nation and the US was grateful and relied on Pakistan in the war against terrorism.

Appreciating Pakistan's role in the war against terrorism, Mr Black said 75 per cent of the Al-Qaeda leadership of the 9/11 period had been arrested, detained or killed. "This is not only an American success but an overwhelming success of Pakistan in the global war against terrorism," he said.

Asked if Pakistan had done enough in the war against terror contrary to some statements of US officials, Mr Black said, "Human beings can always do more. All of us can always do more even if they are working round-the-clock and doing everything possible."

He said US President George Bush was very supportive and admirer of Pakistan and President Gen Musharraf's role in the global war against terrorism. The statements of President Bush, he said, were most favourable to President Musharraf in leading his country and security forces to fight the war against terror.

"These two world leaders appreciate that this is not a problem specifically related to one country or another. This is a common problem that we all share and particularly Pakistan and the United States are doing their best to combat it."

He said President Bush and President Musharraf understood that terrorism had to be confronted regardless of ethnicity, nationality or religion. "As Americans, we are grateful and applauding Pakistan's performance. It is our objective to support our colleagues in this endeavour," he said.

When asked if he considered the threat of terrorism to be less now after the arrest of so many high profile terrorists, Mr Black said the threat had been greatly reduced because of the removal of well-trained terrorists from the 9/11 period.

He said the new breed of terrorist were easier to catch and less well-trained. He said the community of civilized nations had to make the youth understand the beauty of world's religions. He said it would take time but men and women were coming together effectively and the end to terrorist scourge would be in sight.

Mr Black said governments had to educate the youth and encourage the moderates to stand up and confront the nonsense of radical terrorists, who thought that something could be achieved through killings.

Referring to hostage taking incident in Russia, Mr Black said what was going on in Russia had nothing to do with Islam. He said Pakistan and the US were together to stop the terrorists, who made schoolchildren hostages.

Asked if the US had asked Pakistan to take any particular measures regarding WMDs as part of the counter-terrorism measures, Mr Black said, "I have been advised that Pakistan has a developed programme and are taking full responsibility to ensure that there is no leakage to Pakistan and the black market."

When asked if he visualised any change in Pakistan-US relations with the change of government in Islamabad or if some individuals were not on the scene due to any terrorist eventuality, Mr Black said the relationship between Pakistan and the US was institutionalised. He said as a coordinator of counter- terrorism, he saw the relationship beyond individuals.

Replying to another question about Pakistan-US Joint Document Exploitation Project, Mr Black said he usually did not comment on intelligence operations or intelligence successes. However, he said Pakistanis had been very effective in their operations to counter terror and producing vital intelligence information.