WASHINGTON, Dec 12: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is still 'definitely' hiding out somewhere in Afghanistan.

In an interview to CNN broadcast on Sunday, Mr Karzai said: "He (Osama) definitely is in this region. Specifically to say he's on the border or in Afghanistan, or inside Pakistan, or somewhere else, would not be appropriate for me to say."

"But we can definitely say, he's around this region, and that he can't run forever," Mr Karzai said. In reply to a question about Iraq, the Afghan leader urged Iraqis to vote in planned Jan 30 elections.

He said the scheduled polls offered the opportunity of peace to Iraq, adding that he believed Osama was still 'definitely' hiding out somewhere in Afghanistan.

"They must go to polls. They must take this opportunity, elect their people to parliament, and have a government of their own, and have peace," Mr Karzai said of the Iraqi poll.

"The major lesson in Afghanistan was that the Afghan people wanted change, from the tyranny of terrorism. The Iraqi people also will gain nothing if they allow these people to come from outside and destroy their lives," he warned.

In a separate interview with Newsweek magazine, to hit news stands this week, Mr Karzai said former Taliban fighters and supporters were welcome to participate in Afghanistan's new-found democracy, as long as they had no links to Al Qaeda or terrorism. "The Taliban are welcome to join us. It's their country too," he said. -AFP