Osama Bin Laden is hiding in a remote tribal area along Afghanistans 2,413-kilometre border with Pakistan, separated from his top deputy and, in a sign he has to be careful about whom he trusts, surrounded by fellow Arabs, according to US intelligence officials familiar with his pursuit.
His No 2, Ayman Al-Zawahri, is hiding in a more settled area along the border, surrounded by Al Qaeda operatives of his Egyptian nationality, they say. Their separation has opened a debate in national security circles in the United States and elsewhere about whether the leaders have split up. Neither man mentions the other by name in public pronouncements, and both headed separate groups before joining forces in 1998.
Al-Zawahri has decided to take a more prominent public role than has Osama, releasing dozens of written and recorded Internet messages, including a video this month urging Muslims to support Iraqi insurgents. On Sunday, Osama was heard in his first new message in three months, purportedly saying the West was at war with Islam and calling on his followers to go to Sudan to fight a proposed UN force in Darfur.
US and Saudi officials, several of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the informations sensitive nature, say the Al-Qaeda leaders have made a strategic security decision to hide in different places from one another. These officials do not yet see evidence of an ideological split. I dont think they have the luxury to have a rift, said Jamal Khashoggi, an adviser to the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki Al Faisal. A former reporter and editor, Khashoggi interviewed and travelled with Osama at times between 1987 and 1995. Osama lost his Saudi citizenship in 1994 after governments in Algeria, Egypt and Yemen accused him of financing subversion.
Osamas at-large status has hounded the Bush administration. When people were asked in a recent CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll if Osama will be killed or captured in 2006, only 27 percent said yes, while 68 percent said no.
In a position paper released late last month, congressional Democrats pledged to eliminate Osama by doubling the number of special forces and adding more intelligence operatives.
A senior Pakistani security official said Pakistani security forces working closely with the CIA came close to capturing Osama a couple years ago, missing by a few hours. Clues to his whereabouts have dried up. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to media, said bin Laden and some associates were hiding in Waziristan, near the Afghan border, at the time. The official would not elaborate on who those associates were or who had sheltered the Al-Qaeda leader.
It is unclear now where bin Laden and al-Zawahri are. Some US officials believe they are hiding on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan, protected by tribes that warn when Pakistani forces may be approaching, several U.S. counter-terrorism officials said.
The Pakistani government does not believe that is true. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told AP that he has no information suggesting that the Al-Qaeda leaders are in Pakistan. Naturally, we cant go on a wild goose chase. We can only act if we get credible information about the hide-out. We have got no evidence, he said. He and others believe Osama and Al-Zawahri may be on the Afghan side of the border, perhaps in rugged, autonomous Kunar. One of 34 provinces in Afghanistan, Kunar is slightly smaller than Delaware. 
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