U.S. Commander: Bin Laden Alive

The top military commander in Afghanistan said Thursday that he believes Osama bin Laden is still alive, but there is no evidence of al Qaeda fighters moving from Iraq into Afghanistan to train terrorists there.

Coalition commander Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry said there is no reason to believe bin Laden was killed in the earthquake that struck the mountains along the Pakistan border.

"Our forces will not rest until he is either found and captured or killed," Eikenberry told Pentagon reporters in a conference call. "Our working assumption is he is alive today."

He also acknowledged that the U.S. presence in Afghanistan is likely to be reduced as the NATO-led coalition takes over control in the south.

The Pentagon has tentative plans to halt the deployment to Afghanistan of the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Polk, La., according to defense officials who did not want to be identified because the plans have not been finalized. There are about 18,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Eikenberry said there has been an increase in the use of suicide bombers and homemade bombs, but coalition forces are working to train the Afghan Army and security officials in how to detect and fight those threats.

Eikenberry also said he has reviewed the information operations in Afghanistan, and there is no program to pay media there to run favorable articles similar to the one now under investigation in Iraq.

In Iraq, Rear Admiral Scott Van Buskirk has been appointed to conduct a full investigation of the propaganda program.

Eikenberry added that if coalition forces see Afghan national security forces abuse prisoners, they will both stop the abuse and report it. He said he is not aware of any incident where the coalition soldiers had to use force to stop any abuse.