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After two weeks of intense bombings in Afghanistan, the United States on Tuesday admitted that it did not know where Saudi renegade Osama bin Laden was hiding.
"You never know until you catch him," Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the Voice of America.
"You don't believe me. It's a fact. Until it's done, it's not done."
A senior Taleban commander had said on Sunday that Laden was living in "complete safety".
Rumsfeld reiterated America's position and said that the long-term goal was to neutralise terrorists and clamp down on countries that harbour them.
"If Laden were not around tomorrow, the problem would still be there," the defence secretary said.
"He is one of the leaders. There are many key people in the Al Qaeda organisation."
Meanwhile, a senior Pentagon official said that the air campaign against the Taleban was unlikely to stop during the harsh winter.
"If it was a perfect world, we'd like to wrap this up before the bad weather moved in. We don't think that that's realistic," the deputy director of the joint chiefs of staff, Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem, said.
Agencies
The War on Terrorism: The Complete Coverage
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External Link: For further coverage, please visit www.saja.org/roundupsept11.html
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