Top Bin Laden deputy Ayman al-Zawahri has been caught in Pakistan, according to a report from the region quoted on Israel Radio Monday.

Pakistani forces operating against al Qaida strongholds in the country report capturing the Egyptian national, who was formerly the head of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which operated in the past against the Egyptian regime.

Earlier Monday, the US commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan Lieutenant-General David Barno told Reuters that there is little evidence of al Qaida fighters still in Afghanistan, and that Pakistan's crackdown on al Qaida-linked operatives has made life harder for fugitives hiding in tribal areas near the Afghan - Pakistani border.