Osama Bin Laden 'living in a house in Pakistan': US

WASHINGTON: Osama Bin Laden is living a comfortable life hiding out in a house in north-west Pakistan, Nato officials revealed last night.

The al-Qaeda leader is said to have been moving on a regular basis between houses in the Chitral district and the Kurram Valley.

His second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is also believed to be living in a nearby house.

Recent reports had placed bin Laden much further south, in North Waziristan, the base for many Taliban insurgents moving back and forth across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, is also believed to be in Pakistan, moving between Quetta and Karachi over the last few months.

One Nato official said: "Nobody in al-Qaeda is living in a cave".

The official claimed bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are protected by locals and some members of the Pakistani intelligence services.

Earlier this month, a leaked White House report accused Pakistan of playing a double game by avoiding "military engagements that would put it in direct conflict with Afghan Taliban or al-Qaeda forces in North Waziristan".

A senior Pakistani security official denied that bin Laden was being protected and said the latest allegations were designed to heap pressure on Islamabad ahead of talks in Washington this week that would focus on strengthening co-operation between the two countries.

The Pakistan government has repeatedly denied there is any evidence that bin Laden or his deputy is in the country.

Interior minister, Rehman Malik, said similar reports in the past about the whereabouts of al-Qaeda's leadership had proved false.