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Osama still alive, Pakistan likely hideout

Despite the rout of his Al Qaeda terrorist network, Osama bin Laden has likely survived the US-led military campaign and may have escaped into Pakistan, the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee and other US officials have said.

"The latest intelligence we have indicates that the high probabilities are that bin Laden is still alive," Senator Bob Graham said.

"Where he is, is a question mark. The trail has gone cold as to whether he's still in the caves of Tora Bora or, in fact, has slipped out into Pakistan," he said in a television interview.

An intelligence official said that recently obtained information supported the notion that bin Laden has survived the massive US air strikes and Afghan attacks on the mountainous enclave of Tora Bora.

"There were certainly indications last week that would imply that he's alive, but nothing definitive," the official said, who declined to discuss what the clues were.

"There's certainly no indication that he's dead, and there's some circumstantial evidence that he's alive."

Concern that bin Laden was not killed during the fighting and has eluded capture continues to plague the US campaign against the Al Qaeda network, launched nearly three months ago after the September 11 attacks in the United States.

President George W Bush has said he wants bin Laden apprehended 'dead or alive'.

Meanwhile, a senior defence official said the Pentagon is uncertain about whether bin Laden is alive

"We don't know," the official said.

"We have gotten conflicting intelligence reports for weeks," he was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.

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