Military

DATE=12/17/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHAN/PENTAGON (L-O)

NUMBER=2-284374

BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The Pentagon says there is still scattered fighting in Afghanistan's Tora Bora region, but a top defense official admits no one now knows where al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is. V-O-A Pentagon Correspondent Alex Belida reports.

TEXT: Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem says the fighting is still not over in the Tora Bora area. He says it remains a top priority in the U-S led effort to destroy the al-Qaida terrorist network.

/// STUFFLEBEEM ACT ///

There are still isolated pockets of al-Qaida fighting so we are not done yet.

/// END ACT ///

Still, Admiral Stufflebeem says al-Qaida fighters are largely on the run. He says more al-Qaida and Taleban have been taken prisoner and some have been handed over to U-S military authorities by the Afghan forces holding them.

/// STUFFLEBEEM ACT ///

We are obtaining custody of some of these al-Qaida and Taleban troops, but so far we have a total of five currently in detention status with the U-S forces.

/// END ACT ///

All five are aboard a U-S ship in the Arabian Sea. One is the so-called American Taleban, John Walker Lindh. Another is believed to be an Australian. Pentagon officials have released no information on the other three. But they say U-S forces are interrogating additional prisoners held by Afghan forces and predict more will be transferred to American custody.

In the meantime, the search for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and terrorist fighters goes on in the Tora Bora area - in many cases in a painstaking cave-by-cave process.

/// STUFFLEBEEM ACT ///

Every cave that is entered is being treated as a hostile environment so it is a very slow methodical process.

/// END ACT ///

But Admiral Stufflebeem makes clear no one is sure whether bin Laden is still there.

/// STUFFLEBEEM ACT ///

Maybe he is still there, maybe he was killed or maybe he has left.

/// END ACT ///

Admiral Stufflebeem says there are reports some al-Qaida have fled into Pakistan and that some have been detained by authorities there. He provided no details. (SIGNED)

NEB/BEL/RAE