Qureshi asks US to share intelligence on Osama

With al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden remaining elusive, Pakistan Foreign minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi has said the US may be aware of his whereabouts and asked American intelligence agencies to share any information they have on him.

"US may be aware of the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden," Qureshi, currently on a visit to Washington, was quoted by the News.

Qureshi has asked the US to share its intelligence with Pakistan if it has any information about the presence of top al-Qaeda leaders including Osama in the tribal areas of his country.

"If the US intelligence is that clear, they should share that intelligence with us and we will help them catch him, because we have an interest in getting hold of Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden. But we are not sure of their presence. If you are confident of information that you have, we are your allies. Share it with us," he had said in Washington on Monday.

His comments came in the backdrop of a statement by a US diplomat, who said Osama was alive and based in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

Gerald M Feierstein, deputy chief of Mission at the US embassy in Islamabad had said last week that the world's most wanted terrorist was based in the tribal region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, but his ability to carry out terrorist attacks was "significantly limited".