WASHINGTON, Sept 3: Top officials heading US military’s Special Operations units want to call off the hunt for Osama bin Laden, who they believe is dead, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing military and intelligence officials.

The Times reports that some senior officials in the Joint Special Operations Command have concluded that Osama was probably killed during the intense bombing of Tora Bora, Afghanistan, in December.

However, they have no firm evidence of his death, according to the Times, and base their assertions on the lack of recent confirmed sightings or radio intercepts indicating he is still alive.

The analysis does not represent a consensus of all Special Operations forces leaders, and sharp disagreements remain, the newspaper reported.

However, with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s push to expand the use of Special Operations units, such as the Green Berets and Navy SEALS, to kill or capture guerillas around the world, commanders are trying to determine whether their limited resources could be better used in other ways.

Top US officials, at least publicly, have said they do not know if Osama is dead or alive, and intelligence information that has appeared in the news media has been mixed, at best.—AFP