By Amir Abdel Latif, IOL Correspondent in Kandahar

KANDAHAR, Oct 8 (IslamOnline) - Osama bin laden, the U.S.'s prime suspect in the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, left his headquarters in Kandahar to a remote region in north-central Afghanistan on October 4th, a top Taliban official said Monday.

"He [bin Laden] had already been informed by his sources in Washington and Islamabad about the air strikes," the official said, adding. "Following the information, he had left Kandahar three days before the attack."

The new location in Afghanistan's Bamyan region is a former stronghold of the pro-Iranian Hizb-e-Wahdat.

The Taliban official dispelled any immediate possibility bin Laden would be shifted outside Afghanistan.

"He is safe only in Afghanistan. There is no guarantee for his safety outside Afghanistan," said the official.

Bin Laden had reportedly been in Bamyan over a year ago, but following the advice of the Taliban government, he had to change his camp rapidly so that the CIA and FBI could not locate him. He moved from Bamyan to Logar, Khost and then to Kandahar.

The Saudi multimillionaire had been in Kandahar for the past few weeks, but following a tip off about the air strikes, decided to move to a more inaccessible location with his key companions, the official said.

"He often used to travel with a contingent of 40 to 50 vehicles backed by armored cars and a very few people know about the personal vehicle of the Saudi billionaire," the official said, adding, "However, this time, he took merely three vehicles with him to keep himself safe from the spy satellites of USA."

In answer to a query about Taliban's Supreme Leader Mullah Muhammad Omer, he said, "He is safe and has been residing in a secret hideout in Kandahar for [the] last two weeks."

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