Osama Bin Laden must be killed or captured if al-Qaeda is to be defeated, the top US commander in Afghanistan has said. General Stanley McChrystal told the US Congress that Bin Laden had become an "iconic figure" whose very survival eight years after the September 11 terror attacks serves as a recruiting tool for al-Qaeda.
"I don't think that we can finally defeat al-Qaeda until he's captured or killed," he said.
"I believe he is an iconic figure at this point, whose survival emboldens al-Qaeda as a franchising organisation across the world".
US intelligence officials believe the al-Qaeda leader is hiding in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
McChrystal added that President Obama's decision to deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan meant success was possible. He said the extra troopps would "provide us with the ability to reverse insurgent momentum and deny the Taliban the access to the population they require to survive".
But he warned that the mission remained "undeniably difficult" and that the next 18 months would be crucial.
The general, who originally requested 40,000 additional troops, said that he did not think he would need to ask for any more troops in a year's time, but added that he would be willing to request more if circumstances changed.
