WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the United States has not had any reliable intelligence on the whereabouts of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden for "years."
Gates's comments came in an interview to air Sunday on ABC's "This Week" news program, days after Western demands that Pakistan step up efforts to hunt for bin Laden.
"Well, we don't know for a fact where Osama bin Laden is. If we did, we'd go get him," Gates said.
When asked when U.S. officials last had "any good intelligence" on the whereabouts of the al-Qaida leader, Gates replied, "I think it's been years."
He said he could not confirm a BBC report Friday that bin Laden may have been in Afghanistan. The report cited a detainee saying a trusted friend had told him he had seen bin Laden in Afghanistan early this year.
The whereabouts of bin Laden have been a source of speculation since he fled the mountains of Tora Bora in Afghanistan following the U.S.-led invasion. He is widely believed to be hiding in the tribal regions of western Pakistan.
