RIYADH, Nov 5: US forces have little chance of finding Osama bin Laden if he is hiding in the Afghan mountains, a former head of Pakistan’s intelligence agency said on Monday.

Asad Durrani, now ambassador to Saudi Arabia, also said he feared the US-led bombing of Afghanistan would unite most of the country’s people against its foreign invaders.

“If one is lucky, one may be able to get hold of him (Osama), but the chances of tracking down and approaching anyone in the Afghanistan landscape are slim,” Durrani said in an interview.

“I also think that, because of the bombing, the Afghans who were not fond of the Taliban are likely to join with its supporters to resist the foreign forces. Removing the Taliban through military means is more difficult than internally.”

Durrani headed the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) between Aug 1990 and Feb 1992.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday dismissed speculation that the US military campaign in Afghanistan could drag on for years.

Durrani said Saudi police were interrogating one Pakistani expatriate in connection with a bomb attack in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar on Oct 7 which killed two foreigners, including one American.

But he dismissed speculation that the other person blown up in the explosion — who some believe may have been a suicide bomber — was a Pakistani. Saudi officials have said they do not know whether the blast was linked to global events.

“To my knowledge there hasn’t been a single incident in Saudi Arabia of a Pakistani — or an Afghan — visibly showing anger against a Westerner,” he added. There are an estimated 800,000 Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia and 100,000 Afghans.—Reuters