U.S. officials say that U.S. forces in Afghanistan have taken a top Taleban official into custody after he surrendered to Afghan authorities.

Mawlawi Muttawakil File Photo

The officials say Taleban foreign minister Mawlawi Muttawakil turned himself in late Friday. Afghan officials then transferred him to the U.S. military, who are now holding him in Kandahar.

Mr. Muttawakil is the highest-ranking member of Afghanistan's former Taleban rulers to turn himself in.

Meanwhile, U.S. troops are in eastern Afghanistan investigating the site of a U.S. missile attack Monday that may have killed several members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

Pentagon officials say that after delays due to bad weather, helicopters carried more than 50 troops Friday to the Zawar Kili area, near the Tora Bora cave complex where U.S. and Afghan forces battled al-Qaida fighters in November. The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Richard Myers, tells journalists that the team arrived there at night, and so has not yet been able to gather any information.

Pentagon officials say the missile fired from an unmanned drone appeared to hit a group of men, one of whom they say was taller than the others and being treated with great deference.

Media reports have speculated the man was Osama bin Laden, who is nearly two meters (six feet four inches) tall. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the Pentagon has no idea if the man was Mr. bin Laden or not.

The Zawar Kili area is the site of what was a major al-Qaida training and weapons storage facility.

Some information for this report provided by AP.

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