The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Washington

Osama bin Laden remains deeply isolated and has been forced to devote much of his energy to his own security, CIA Director Michael Hayden said in a speech on Thursday.

"He is putting a lot of energy into his own survival, a lot of energy into his own security. In fact, he appears to be largely isolated from the day-to-day operations of the organization he nominally heads," said Hayden, referring to the Al-Qaeda network. Hunting down bin Laden remains a high priority for the Central Intelligence Agency, he said.

"I can assure you, although there has been press speculation to the contrary, I can assure you that the hunt for bin Laden is very much at the top of CIA's priority list." He suggested that bin Laden was hiding somewhere in the remote Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, where he said Al-Qaeda has regrouped and bolstered its organization.

Hayden described "the sheer challenge of surveying every square mile of that inhospitable and dangerous region," and said "part of the explanation for his survival lies in the fact that he has worked to avoid detection."

Killing or capturing bin Laden would deal a severe blow to the terror network blamed for the attacks of September 11, 2001, he said.

"Because of his iconic stature, his death or capture clearly would have a significant impact on the confidence of his followers, both core Al Qaeda and these unaffiliated extremists, unaffiliated extremists throughout the world."

In a speech examining the threat posed by Al Qaeda, Hayden said the network had "suffered serious setbacks, but it remains a determined, adaptive enemy, unlike any our nation has ever faced."

He said major terrorist threats against the United States could all be traced back to the group's "safe haven" in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

"Let me be very clear: Today, virtually every major terrorist threat that my agency is aware of has threads back to the tribal areas. Whether it's command and control, training, direction, money, capabilities, there is a connection to the FATA (tribal areas."

He said Al-Qaeda was on the retreat in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Iraq, while it had strengthened in Pakistan's tribal areas and expanded its activity into North Africa, Somalia and Yemen.

"North Africa, East Africa, Yemen serve as kind of a counterweight to the good news out of Iraq, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere," he said, adding that the latest problems in Africa were not as serious as previous threats in Iraq or Saudi Arabia.