Washington: Pakistani intelligence officials say bin Laden is still alive

Pakistani intelligence officials, who until recently were saying they thought Osama bin Laden probably was dead, now say they have evidence that the terrorist leader is still alive and on the run.

The evidence isn’t conclusive, and U.S. counterterrorism officials said Friday that they had no independent confirmation of the Pakistani reports.

But the new reports from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence are noteworthy because they differ from the agency’s earlier position and contradict Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who earlier this month told a Russian news agency that bin Laden could be dead.

According to U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the ISI is now reporting that Afghan tribesmen have told Pakistani intelligence officers they’ve seen bin Laden in southeastern Afghanistan.

According to the reports, the al-Qaida leader, accompanied by 20 or 30 Arabs, is moving constantly and frequently spending the night in the countryside to escape detection.

Poland: Investigators confirm priest spied on pope when a bishop

A high-ranking Polish priest spied for communist authorities on church officials including Pope John Paul II, who was the bishop of Krakow at the time, a government institute said Friday.

The statement by the Institute of National Remembrance, which oversees the Polish secret service’s files, was the first official confirmation of long-held suspicions that the pope then Karol Wojtyla was spied on before he was elected to the papacy in 1978.

Krakow Cardinal Franciszek Macharski declined to comment on the charge, which appeared on the institute’s Web site.

The identity of the priest, who died during the 1960s, was not disclosed.

The agent analyzed the future pope’s homilies, speeches and private correspondence for the communist secret services.

According to the institute, some 1,500 priests worked as secret service agents in communist Poland.

Washington: Government says 131 people charged with 9-11 crimes

The government has charged 131 people with crimes as a result of its investigation of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, but Zacarias Moussaoui is still the only person in custody for allegedly being involved in the plot, a senior Justice Department official said Friday.

Many of those charged were people whose alleged crimes make it easier for terrorists to operate, like helping people commit identity theft or create false documents. The official would not give a breakdown of what crimes the people are accused of committing.

Of the 131 people charged, 75 are in custody pending trial or sentencing.

Of the 56 not in custody, three are considered fugitives, seven have been deported and the rest are still being sought. Six cases were dismissed.