Al-Qaeda suspects are being interrogated. Afghan and Pakistani villagers are being courted. Troops and unmanned aircraft are poised to strike. But finding Osama bin Laden remains enormously difficult, much more so than capturing Saddam Hussein, say American intelligence officials, lawmakers and analysts.

More than two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, there is little indication that U.S. forces are about to capture bin Laden.

Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the vast, rugged mountains that separate Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the population is largely sympathetic and U.S. forces have limited access and mobility.

"As opposed to finding the needle in the haystack, now the needle is in a mountain chain," said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan.

For all the United States' sophisticated spy satellites and powerful weapons, the key to finding bin Laden will likely boil down to having the right tip passed on to the right analyst at the right time — much as U.S. officials say was the case in last weekend's successful capture of Saddam in Iraq.

"The lesson that we learn and relearn constantly is that you need good human intelligence," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a Senate Armed Services Committee member who recently traveled to Afghanistan. "You need sources on the ground that are willing to tell us where bin Laden is located. That's the hardest type of intelligence to get."

U.S. authorities "have to win over the confidence of people, or pay them, or get lucky and pick up somebody up and get them to talk," said Reed, a West Point graduate and former company commander with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Officials have tried to pry information from al-Qaeda suspects seized in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. After Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, believed to be al-Qaeda's No. 3 figure, was arrested in March, information from his interrogation led to raids along the southwestern stretch of the Pakistani border with Afghanistan. But those didn't lead to any arrests.

"I'm not sure if there have been any close calls. I'm skeptical," said one U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Some critics have said the United States should devote more resources — including military and special operations forces — to the hunt for bin Laden.

"The United States does not have unlimited military resources," said Larry Johnson, a former State Department deputy chief of counterterrorism. "If you're going to devote air assets to lifting troops in Iraq, those assets are no longer available to lift troops in Afghanistan."

But America's top general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers said this week that the United States, which has about 11,000 troops hunting militants in Afghanistan, is unlikely to send many more troops.

During a pre-Christmas, morale-boosting visit to troops in Afghanistan, Myers said bin Laden will be caught one day "with absolute certainty."

The public also appears optimistic.

On Wednesday, an Associated Press poll conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs showed that two-thirds of 1,001 adults were confident the United States would capture or kill bin Laden, who is believed to have orchestrated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. That's up from about half who felt that way in a poll in September.

Many tribes in the region are sympathetic to al-Qaeda and wary of Americans. Bin Laden's supporters have a religious fervor and a willingness to die for his cause.

Saddam's support was secular. And, although he inspired the loyalty of many, he also had countless enemies in Iraq.

Language difficulties have also complicated the search for bin Laden. Few Americans can speak the Pashtun language and must rely on translators. Foreigners are easily identifiable in the sparsely populated region.

"I don't know how you get 600 people into an area like that without detection and escape," Roberts said of the Afghan border area. There were 600 soldiers in the force that carried out the raid on Saddam in Iraq.

U.S. personnel have considerable flexibility to pursue intelligence leads and conduct raids in Afghanistan. But across the border, they must be mindful of Pakistani sovereignty.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has become a key ally in fighting terrorism, but his support within his own country is shaky, especially in the tribal areas along the border.

The terrain also is daunting. While Saddam was found in a "spider hole," as it was dubbed by the military, "you've got spider caves by the hundreds in Afghanistan and Pakistan," said Karl Inderfurth, assistant secretary of State for South Asian affairs during the Clinton administration.

And bin Laden is skilled at hiding, long used to life on the lam, in contrast to Saddam.

Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said post-Cold War intelligence funding cuts and a reduced emphasis on human spying have hurt the search for bin Laden.

But Goss said he was encouraged by how intelligence agencies and military forces are working more closely together now.

"That's going to yield results," he said. "It has in Iraq."

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