Bin Laden could be dead, says US
A top defence official says Osama bin Laden could be dead.
The US Deputy Secretary of Defence says the body of bin Laden could be lying in one of the caves at Tora Bora.
His comment comes after tribal Afghan fighters withdrew artillery and heavy weapons from the area, signalling the worst of the fighting was over.
Paul Wolfowitz said: "I think it's possible he (bin Laden) could be dead in the bottom of one of them (caves)."
Hazrat Ali, one of the tribal eastern alliance commanders, was quoted by the Afghan Islamic Press agency as saying there was no information that more al-Qaida fighters remained in the caves.
US special forces are expected to comb the caves looking for stragglers and sifting through piles of abandoned documents, passports and other evidence left behind in the hasty retreat.
Marine General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has refused to estimate how long the search will take: "It's going to be step by step, cave by cave."
Mohammed Aman Khiari, another commander, said he doubted bin Laden was still in the area - if he had been there at all.
"If Osama is here, they would be fighting us, but in this case I don't think Osama is in Tora Bora because they are not fighting. Now maybe he has gone somewhere else, or maybe he is dead," Mr Khiari told reporters.
