U.S. takes custody of an al-Qaida leader; Omar eludes capture

KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. Marines took custody of the chief of Osama bin Laden's terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, while the Afghan government said Saturday it appeared former Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had escaped forces penning him in.

Meanwhile, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salaam Zaeef, was deported to his homeland -- where the U.S. military says it intends to put him in detention. If it does, Zaeef would be one of the highest figures from the former ruling militia in U.S. custody.

The Afghan foreign minister and other officials have said in recent days that Omar -- Washington's most-wanted man after bin Laden -- was surrounded by anti-Taliban troops near the town of Baghran in the central Afghan mountains.

But a foreign ministry spokesman, Omar Samad, said Saturday that it was highly likely Omar had escaped.

"I have read reports that he may have fled on a motorbike," Samad said. "We believe with all the publicity that has been given to his stay in Baghran in the past few days that it is inconceivable he would stay there."

The Taliban leader has longtime support in the Baghran region, which could make it difficult for anyone to hand him over. He also survived the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, when resistance fighters learned never to stay long in one place.

Samad said some Taliban around Baghran had surrendered in the previous 24 hours but gave no figures.

'Indications' of Omar

The United States had never confirmed that Omar was in Baghran. Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan, said Friday there were "indications" the Taliban leader was in that area, but said U.S. officials did not know where he was for sure.

U.S. troops have been searching Taliban and al-Qaida compounds, caves and other positions in the southern deserts around the city of Kandahar and the eastern mountains for clues to tracking the remnants of the two groups and their leadership.

At the same time, the United States has been taking custody of key Taliban and al-Qaida figures for interrogation.

Ibn Al-Shayk al-Libi, who ran al-Qaida terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, was transferred from the custody of anti-Taliban forces to a U.S. Marine base at Kandahar airport. He is believed to be the highest-level lieutenant of bin Laden taken into U.S. detention so far.

Rotating out

Marine Lt. James Jarvis told a news briefing that al-Libi was eventually expected "to be rotated out of here," but did not say when. One destination could be Guantanomo, the U.S. military base in Cuba being transformed into a detention center for prisoners from Afghanistan.

Al-Libi was handed over by Pakistan, where scores of al-Qaida and Taliban soldiers are believed to be hiding, and was among 25 prisoners who arrived Saturday in Kandahar from Pakistan or from Shebergan in northern Afghanistan.

Pakistan said Zaeef was deported to Afghanistan after the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees turned down his application for refugee status.

The United States has arranged to take custody of Zaeef, a U.S. official in Washington said earlier. But Pakistan government spokesman Mohammed Aziz Khan would not confirm or deny whether Zaeef had been handed over to U.S. authorities at the border.

Zaeef was not in U.S. custody as of Saturday morning, said Lt. Col. Martin Compton, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command.

"We expect him to be turned over the Americans in the region or to the Afghan government," Samad said of Zaeef.

In other developments:

Bush's envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalil-zad, arrived in the land of his birth after a 30-year absence. He said Omar would be "brought to justice," though the issue of where he would be tried would have to be discussed.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry expressed concern over civilian casualties for U.S. bombardment. Samad called for greater coordination with the Americans to "avert and avoid further civilian losses."

Britain's Foreign Office said it was trying to confirm reports of three Britons captured fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan.