WASHINGTON, April 23: Osama bin Laden is hiding in a remote tribal area along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, separated from his top deputy and, in a sign he has to be careful about whom he trusts, surrounded by fellow Arabs, according to US intelligence officials familiar with his pursuit.

His No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, is hiding in a more settled area along the border, surrounded by Al Qaeda operatives of his Egyptian nationality, they say.

Their separation has opened a debate in national security circles in the United States and elsewhere about whether the leaders have split up. Neither man mentions the other by name in public pronouncements, and both headed separate groups before joining forces in 1998.

Al-Zawahri has decided to take a more prominent public role than has Osama, releasing dozens of written and recorded Internet messages, including a video this month urging Muslims to support Iraqi insurgents.

US and Saudi officials, several of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the information’s sensitive nature, say the Al Qaeda leaders have made a strategic security decision to hide in different places from one another. These officials do not yet see evidence of an ideological split.

“I don’t think they have the luxury to have a rift,” said Jamal Khashoggi, an adviser to the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal.

A senior Pakistani security official said security forces working closely with the CIA came close to capturing Osama a couple years ago, missing by a few hours. Clues to his whereabouts have dried up.

Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told The Associated Press that he has no information suggesting that the Al Qaeda leaders are in Pakistan.—AP