Bin Laden not hiding in Pakistan - prime minister

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 25 (Reuters) Osama bin Laden is not in Pakistan, as far as the government is aware, and if anyone has intelligence to the contrary, they should share it, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz today said.

US intelligence chief John Negroponte, in testimony to a Senate committee earlier this month, wrote that al Qaeda leaders were holed up in a secure hide-out in Pakistan, without naming bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.

''The government of Pakistan cannot respond and act on general statements, (without) tangible evidence. Our position is that none of these people are in Pakistan, Mullah Omar and bin Laden etc,'' Aziz said at the World Economic Forum meeting, referring to the Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders.

Aziz said Taliban members were avoiding crossing the 2,730-km border between Afghanistan and Pakistan because they were increasingly being caught.

Last week, Afghan officials released a video in which captured Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif said Mullah Omar was living in the Pakistani city of Quetta under the protection of Pakistan's ISI intelligence service.

Yesterday, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf rubbished the report as being ''simply preposterous''.

''If there is tangible evidence (of Taliban and al Qaeda leaders being in Pakistan) then that should be shared,'' Aziz told reporters in Davos.

Aziz said dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan was getting better and that Taliban members who cross the border to try and recruit people should be dealt with by Afghanistan.

He also said Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of illegal opium, should do more to tackle the drugs problem.

Turning to the Kashmir issue Aziz said contacts were continuing.

He declined to be more specific, reiterating the official Pakistani position.

''Whatever the Kashmir solution is, it must be in line with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people,'' he said.

Aziz also said Pakistan's economy was in for a good year as the government carried out reforms, including privatisations, and as more foreign investment flowed in.

REUTERS SY MIR RAI2121