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 unnamed NATO 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, the NATO 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 against NATO 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."

　　北约组织一位高级官员日前表示，奥萨马•本•拉登不仅还活着，而且身体健康，过得相当滋润。他目前居住在巴基斯言西北部的一处住所，并受到当地民众和一伙巴基斯坦情报特工的保护。

　　这一最新看法与这位基地组织头目为了躲避中情局无人机的空中侦察而在地下掩体中艰难度日的说法大相径庭。

　　美国有线新闻网援引一位不具名的北约组织官员的话说：“没有哪个基地组织成员住在山洞里。”

　　他补充道，本•拉登的副手艾曼•扎瓦希里也住在离本•拉登不远的巴基斯坦山区边境。

　　巴基斯坦官员本周一再次重申其一贯立场，否认这位出生于沙特的恐怖分子头目得到了庇护。

　　但北约组织官员称，本•拉登的落脚点据称在靠近中国边界的奇特拉尔山区、以及与阿富汗托拉搏拉接壤的古勒姆山谷等地不断变换。2001年美国发动伊拉克战争时，托拉搏拉曾是一处要塞。

　　特别是北瓦济里斯坦已经成为阿富汗、巴基斯坦、以及阿拉伯武装分子穿过阿富汗边界密谋袭击北约部队的枢纽。

　　本月初泄露的一份白宫报告谴责盟友巴基斯坦两面三刀，称其避免“卷入与阿富汗塔利班或北瓦济里斯坦的基地组织军队直接交战的军事行动。”

　　一位巴基斯坦高级安全官员否认本•拉登正受到保护，并称“设计”这一最新说法是为了在本周的华盛顿会谈之前向巴基斯坦政府施压。此次华盛顿会谈将集中讨论加强两国间合作。

　　他说：“每次只要遇到重大事件，就总会出现类似的消息。就算不是本•拉登，也会有别的事。”