Bin Laden in region, Karzai says

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Osama bin Laden is alive and may be hiding somewhere along the Afghan border, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan said yesterday.

In addition, a statement purportedly from fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Omar accused the US-backed Afghan government of destroying Islamic values in Afghanistan and said the hard-line movement soon would triumph over US forces.

"The spell of American oppression will be broken to pieces," said the statement, which was faxed yesterday to the Associated Press in Peshawar, on the Pakistan border, by Taliban spokesman Hamid Agha.

It was not possible to independently confirm the authenticity of the statement, delivered ahead of the start of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice.

In his comments about the Al Qaeda leader, Karzai said optimism among the US military that he will be caught soon means bin Laden is probably still in the region, perhaps along the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border.

"His exact location is not known," Karzai told reporters at his Kabul palace. "Inside or outside the [Afghan] border, it is not clear."

Karzai said recent videos showing bin Laden demonstrated that he was still alive. "Everyone can see those videos," he said.