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WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (AFP) - Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said Thursday al-Qaeda leader and suspect in the September 11 terrorist attacks Osama bin Laden was probably still alive -- possibly in Pakistan.

"I have no reason to believe that he is dead," Abdullah told reporters, in response to questions on recent statements by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that bin Laden had probably died of kidney failure.

"I know that the Taliban leaders are mainly in Pakistan," Abdullah said.

"Most of the leaders of the organizations which are considered terrorist organizations, which are Pakistani organizations, they are there in Pakistan, they are operating," said Abdullah, a minister of the interim government of Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.

"Pakistan should seize this opportunity to clean home, to clean the house, because those elements who supported the Taliban for so long are still there in Pakistan, and they are strong, they are armed, and they are well equipped."

Musharraf has promised a crackdown on Pakistan-based militant groups following an attack on the Indian parliament in December, which sent rival neighbors India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

The Afghan foreign minister arrived Thursday in Washington, and will meet Friday with Secretary of State Colin Powell, national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, and deputy defense minister Paul Wolfowitz.

Karzai himself is due in Washington, and will meet with President George W. Bush at the White House on Monday.

Asked how welcome a long-term US military presence would be, Abdullah replied: "If it is required, because of the campaign against terror or because of the stability in Afghanistan, why not?"

The minister said he was in favor of an extension of the multinational security force operation in Afghanistan, even beyond the capital Kabul, to boost the process of stabilizing the country.

The hardline Taliban militia were ousted by allied Afghan forces in the wake of a US-led bombing campaign on the impoverished nation imposed after the Taliban refused to surrender bin Laden whom they were harboring.

Afghanistan was this week promised 4.5 billion dollars in international aid to help it rebuild.

"The presence of multinational forces were proved to be a stabilizing factor," said Abdullah.

"It will have the same stabilizing effect if they are positioned in other parts of the country, and I would have approved the extension of their mandate in other parts of the country as well.

"The military operations should to continue as long as it takes."

Abdullah also warned off Afghanistan's neighbors from interfering in its internal affairs in the future. He said he was unable to confirm or deny reports that Iran was trying to destabilize areas of the north of the country but said that would be "extremely unfortunate."

"It would be an extremely big mistake by any of our neighboring countries to resort to the old methods of interferences in the internal affairs of Afghanistan," he said.

"Every neighbor of Afghanistan, every country should acknowledge that the rule of the game has changed," Abdullah added.

"I think the new situation in Afghanistan is an opportunity for our neighbors Iran and Pakistan. They can benefit from it in a positive way," he said. 

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