ISLAMABAD: US military efforts to find accused terrorist Osama bin Laden have been stymied by poor intelligence, the prey’s savvy evasive tactics and one of the most daunting geographic and cultural terrains in the world, according to intelligence and military officials across the region. After nearly four weeks of intense aerial and electronic surveillance and scattered bombing, Osama has avoided becoming the highly visible trophy the Bush administration originally identified as the primary target - “dead or alive” - of its attacks in Afghanistan.

US intelligence efforts directed against Osama have been hobbled by the lack of informed US operatives on the ground. At the same time, Osama is believed to be bypassing electronic communications in favor of handwritten notes and frequent moves, often using the network of caves that honeycomb Afghanistan’s rugged mountains, according to Pakistani intelligence officials familiar with his methods of operation. However, Osama did release a new videotaped message that was broadcast on Qatar-based al-Jazeera television on Saturday, saying that any Muslim backing the US “crusade” in Afghanistan had betrayed the faith.

Afghans - even those who oppose the Taliban or who would be susceptible to being recruited in return for money or other considerations - have refused to surrender Osama or provide accurate intelligence on his whereabouts, as originally expected by US officials, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.

Intelligence officers and analysts said that it could take the US months to develop the intelligence on the ground needed to locate the Saudi blamed for the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. “They don’t have the sources, the information,” said Ahmed Rashid, an author who has written about the Taliban and travelled extensively through Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in recent years. “It’s going to take many months to build it up. They need anti-Taliban Afghans on the ground. For that, they have to help build the anti-Taliban movement in the south and it’s going to take time and money and lots of effort. It’s not something you can do with US commanders and US bombs.” —Dawn/LAT-WP News Service (c) The Washington Post.