Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and U.K. forces have detected al- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in northwestern Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, London's Sunday Express newspaper said.

Bin Laden and as many as 50 supporters were north of the town of Khanozai and the city of Quetta, the newspaper reported, citing an unidentified ``U.S. intelligence source.'' Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is believed to be with bin Laden, the newspaper said.

The leader of al-Qeada, which has been blamed for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is boxed into a 10-mile (16-kilometer) wide area after traveling 240 kilometers from the south to the Toba Kakar mountains about a month ago, the Sunday Express said.

White House spokesman Alan Abney said the White House had no comment on reports that bin Laden has been captured by the U.S. military.

The area is under surveillance from a satellite while forces await orders, the newspaper said in its early Sunday edition. Bin Laden's whereabouts had been discovered through a combination of intelligence tip-offs and video image analysis by geographers and soil experts, the newspaper reported.

(The Sunday Express, 2-22)

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harrison at (61) aharrison2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 22, 2004 01:39 EST