London: The world's most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden, has been tracked down and the SAS, Britain's elite soldiers, are poised to seize him in his secret mountain lair in Pakistan, a leading London tabloid claimed today (Feb 22, 2004).

Working closely with US forces, the SAS have hemmed Laden into a remote mountain area measuring just 16 km wide in Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, 'Sunday Express' claimed.

The man behind the September 11 outrage is reportedly being guarded by only 50 of his most loyal supporters who have pledged to lay down their lives for him.

The report quoted a US intelligence source saying last night, "He is boxed in."

According to the report, SAS and US Special Forces are awaiting orders to swoop on the world's most wanted man in the desolate Toba Kakar mountains in Pakistan's North West Frontier.

American military chiefs are confident that bin Laden - who is believed to be holed up with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar - cannot escape. But British planners have warned against overconfidence.

According to the report quoted to Defence sources in London, the UK is reluctant to get drawn into a full-blown "spring offensive" to wipe out the remnants of al-Qaeda, although US President George W Bush favours the move as a boost to his re-election prospects in November.