Bin Laden Probably Still in Afghanistan, Powell Says
Sunday, November 18, 2001 9:44 AM EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is probably still in Afghanistan with ever decreasing room to move, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday.

``I think he's still in Afghanistan,'' Powell said on Fox News Sunday, saying he had seen no intelligence suggesting the man accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks had left the country.

``It's getting harder for him to hide as more and more territory is removed from Taliban control,'' Powell said. ``A lot of reports suggest that is freedom to maneuver has become quite limited.''

He said the whole world regarded bin Laden as an outcast and the Saudi-born militant would not find safe haven in any country bordering Afghanistan.

``I don't think this fellow is going to be welcome anywhere. He is an outcast, he is a murderer, he's a terrorist, the whole world recognizes that. And he is on the run... and we will get him.''

Asked about evidence that bin Laden had been trying to acquire nuclear weapons, Powell said:

``I don't think he has a nuclear weapon, I think that's quite unlikely. The material we've seen ... certainly suggests he was interested in one and they were moving in that direction but it doesn't seem to me we've seen anything that would seem to suggest that he had one or was close to having one.''