The Afghan Foreign Minister says Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar may be hiding in the mountainous regions near the border with Pakistan.
Dr Abdullah Abdullah believes both men are still alive but said their locations are not known.
He said Pakistan and Afghanistan are co-operating in attempts to eradicate al-Qaida and Taliban remnants from the border regions.
Dr Abdullah is with President Hamid Karzai attending a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"Eventually, they will be caught because they do not have popular support in Afghanistan," he said. "Both governments agree the re-emergence of al-Qaida and Taliban would not be in anybody's interest and we have discussed ways to prevent that," Dr Abdullah said.
He predicted the militants - whose activities have been on the increase in recent months - would try to take advantage of a possible war against Iraq to mount armed attacks.
PA