北約官員稱拉登健在"過得很滋潤"
Osama bin Laden is alive and well and living comfortably in a house in the north-west of Pakistan protected by local people and elements of the country's intelligence services, according to a senior NATO official.
The latest assessment contradicts the belief that the al-Qaeda leader is roughing it in underground bunkers as he dodged CIA drones hunting him from the air.
"Nobody in al-Qaeda is living in a cave," according to an unnamedNATO official quoted by CNN.
He added that Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's second in command, was also living in a house close by somewhere in the country's mountainous border regions.
Pakistani officials on Monday repeated their long standing denials that the Saudi-born terrorist mastermind was being given safe haven.
However, theNATO official said bin Laden was thought to have ranged from the mountainous Chitral area near the Chinese border, to the Kurram Valley which borders Afghanistan's Tora Bora, one of the Taliban strongholds during the US invasion in 2001.
North Waziristan, in particular, has become a nexus for Afghan, Pakistani and Arab militants as they plot attacks againstNATO forces across the border in Afghanistan.
Earlier this month a leaked White House report accused its ally 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.
"Every time something important is happening then things like this keep creeping out," he said. "If it's not bin Laden it's something else."
北約組織一位高級官員日前表示，奧薩馬•本•拉登不僅還活着，而且身體健康，過得相當滋潤。他目前居住在巴基斯言西北部的一處住所，並受到當地民衆和一夥巴基斯坦情報特工的保護。
這一最新看法與這位基地組織頭目爲了躲避中情局無人機的空中偵察而在地下掩體中艱難度日的說法大相徑庭。
美國有線新聞網援引一位不具名的北約組織官員的話說：“沒有哪個基地組織成員住在山洞裏。”
他補充道，本•拉登的副手艾曼•扎瓦希裏也住在離本•拉登不遠的巴基斯坦山區邊境。
巴基斯坦官員本週一再次重申其一貫立場，否認這位出生於沙特的恐怖分子頭目得到了庇護。
但北約組織官員稱，本•拉登的落腳點據稱在靠近中國邊界的奇特拉爾山區、以及與阿富汗托拉搏拉接壤的古勒姆山谷等地不斷變換。2001年美國發動伊拉克戰爭時，托拉搏拉曾是一處要塞。
特別是北瓦濟里斯坦已經成爲阿富汗、巴基斯坦、以及阿拉伯武裝分子穿過阿富汗邊界密謀襲擊北約部隊的樞紐。
本月初泄露的一份白宮報告譴責盟友巴基斯坦兩面三刀，稱其避免“捲入與阿富汗塔利班或北瓦濟里斯坦的基地組織軍隊直接交戰的軍事行動。”
一位巴基斯坦高級安全官員否認本•拉登正受到保護，並稱“設計”這一最新說法是爲了在本週的華盛頓會談之前向巴基斯坦政府施壓。此次華盛頓會談將集中討論加強兩國間合作。
他說：“每次只要遇到重大事件，就總會出現類似的消息。就算不是本•拉登，也會有別的事。”
Vocabulary:
element: any group of people singled out within a larger group by identifiable behavior patterns, common interests, ethnic similarities, etc.（某團體或社會中的一組，一羣，一夥）
rough it: to live without the customary comforts or conveniences; endure rugged conditions（過艱苦的生活）
drone: a pilotless radio-controlled aircraft（無人駕駛機）
safe haven: an area near a combat zone that is maintained as being free from military attack（避難所）
play a double game: 兩面三刀，耍兩面派
