U.S. Officials Look to Al Qaeda Captives for Intelligence

Dec. 18 -- The fall of the Tora Bora mountaintop complex in eastern Afghanistan has not yielded Osama bin Laden, as many officials expected — but it may have turned up a number of his associates and clues to the possible whereabouts of the prime suspect of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Intelligence sources tell ABCNEWS they believe that they now have in custody some of Osama bin Laden's most senior people.

Although officials, lacking photographs and fingerprints, were having some problems identifying these individuals among the bedraggled masses, sources say other prisoners are starting to finger their former leaders and provide information on where bin Laden might be.

At the same time, administration officials appeared to be warning that the war on terrorism had a long way to go — and that it might go far from Afghanistan.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz today warned countries against harboring bin Laden as he admitted al Qaeda cells were still operating in several countries.

"I just think any country in the world that would knowingly harbor bin Laden would be out of their minds," Wolfowitz told reporters at a press briefing at the Pentagon today. "I think they've seen what happened to the Taliban and I think that's probably a pretty good lesson for people not to do that."

In Yemen, there was a fierce military battle involving tanks and artillery after government troops went into a village believed to be sheltering al Qaeda supporters.

In Somalia, the CIA has been undertaking reconnaissance missions for the past three weeks.

And in Sudan and the Philippines, U.S. advisers are expected to arrive to consider other actions against alleged terrorists.

Taking Account of the Spoils

Intelligence sources told ABCNEWS their best guess is that bin Laden is still in Afghanistan, but is most likely in high mountain passes, trying to walk out of the country to Pakistan.

Military sources say bad weather has obscured American surveillance efforts along the border, but teams of U.S. special operations troops are in some of those high passes, waiting for the opportunity to strike.