Osama bin Laden and fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar are alive and well, a purported Taliban commander said in a TV interview, adding that he still receives orders from Omar.
Pakistan's Geo television broadcast the interview with the man it identified as Taliban military commander Mullah Akhtar Usmani, a former Afghan aviation minister.
A black turban shielded the man's face, making it impossible to recognize him or verify his identity. He wore a gray jacket, and an AK-47 rifle was propped next to him as he spoke in front of a red-patterned, Afghan-style rug.
In response to a question, the man said he would not specify where bin Laden was hiding.
"Thanks be to God, he is absolutely fine," he said in the interview broadcast Wednesday.
The man said the Taliban are still organized and senior Taliban leaders hold regular consultations. "Our discipline is strong. We have regular meetings. We make programs," he said.
He said Omar does not attend the meetings but "decisions come from his side." He did not say where those meetings take place.
Geo said the interview was recorded last week, but declined to say where.
In Washington, a US intelligence official said: "The belief in the intelligence community is that he's [bin Laden] still in the tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border."
It seemed reasonable to believe that former Taliban officials still gather to meet, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
General Zaher Azimi, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said Wednesday that the interview was "not serious" and wouldn't help the rebels. He questioned why the man claiming to be Usmani was afraid to show his face, though he stopped short of questioning his identity.
"He was just saying the same thing as usual," Azimi said. "This doesn't make any difference in terms of improving their military or political situation."
Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, the government's chief spokesman Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and officials at the Interior Ministry were unavailable for comment Wednesday.
A senior journalist at the independent station said the interview was done near the Afghan town of Spinboldak, which is close to the Pakistani border.
The interview was conducted in broken Urdu, Pakistan's main language and the language in which Geo broadcasts most of its programs. Most senior Taliban speak Pashtu.
In speaking about Omar, the man referred to the Taliban chief by his self-proclaimed title of "ameerul momineen" -- "leader of the faithful."
"Ameerul momineen is our chief and leader. No one is against him. Our ameerul momineen is alive. He is all right. There is no problem. He is not sick. He is my commander. He gives me instructions," the man said.
Asked whether he has direct contact with Omar, the man said: "I will not say whether I meet with him or not. But he is giving instructions."
A US-led coalition ousted the Taliban in late 2001. The offensive was launched after the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden and dismantle al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US, which bin Laden is accused of orchestrating.
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