from Robert Fisk of The Independent (London)

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Robert Fisk, a journalist with the Independent, a UK newspaper, who has interviewed bin Laden, said that people should stop talking about the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the Pakistan security forces, as if they were a single entity.

He said: "They're [the ISI] not all one unique institution, they are differing in their views, some of them are pro-American, some of them are very anti-American, some of them are clearly sympathetic towards Islamists, extremists, whatever you like to call them.

"I called up one of the men I know last night and put it to him, 'look, you know, this house was very big, come on, you must have had had some idea.'

"What he said to me was 'sometimes it's better to survey people than to attack them.'

"And I think what he meant was that as long as they knew where he [bin Laden] was, it was much better to just watch rather than stage a military operation that may bring about more outrages, terrorism, whatever you like to call it."