US FORCES broke off bombing raids to scour mountain valleys for signs of Osama bin Laden's supporters on Tuesday, as foreign donors scrambled to save Afghanistan's fledgling regime from bankruptcy.

There were no fresh reports of US air raids early Tuesday after heavy bombers had smashed a bunker complex in the eastern hills, but both al Qaeda chief Bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar remained at large.

The Central Intelligence Agency denied a media report that claimed the agency had concluded Bin Laden had fled to Pakistan then escaped by sea.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell prepared to leave Washington for a tour of South Asia - en route to an donor countries' conference in Tokyo next week for Afghanistan - during which he is expected to reassure Kabul on international support and offer significant financial aid.

Meanwhile in the Philippines, some 700 US troops poured into the troubled Mindanao region for an operation described as a training exercise with local Filipino forces, but which could lead to clashes with Muslim rebels.

The Abu Sayyaf rebel force has links with al Qaeda, and Filipino officials have admitted the US forces could end up in confrontation with them.

A second group of prisoners from Afghanistan arrived at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, bringing the number of detainees at the Camp X-Ray detention facility to 50.

A crackdown on Muslim extremists was winding down in Pakistan, which said it would seek the help of the United States in easing tensions with India.

Pentagon officials said US forces had destroyed Zhawar Kili, a former Bin Laden base, using heavy bombers to close cave entrances, raze buildings and prevent the return of al Qaeda fighters.

Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff deputy director of operations, said US forces would now move to other parts of a region honeycombed with caves and tunnels that could hide al Qaeda men or material.

Representatives of the Afghanistan Assistance Group (ASG), comprising 16 donor countries, huddled in Kabul with the UN and interim cabinet members in a bid to resolve the cash crisis.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said around US10 million were needed immediately to pay civil servants for "something like one month", describing his administration's needs as "enormous and urgent".

"The government has inherited a wholly destroyed country and it has to function," he said.

Asked to describe the financial crisis in Afghanistan, UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said: "Well, the fact is they have no money. The country is broke."

"This is about keeping the credibility of the administration," Swedish deputy foreign minister and ASG head Vidar Helgesen said. "It is the most urgent need."

A second group of 30 captured Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, shackled, hooded and each guarded by two US soldiers, arrived at Guantanamo on Monday after a 27-hour flight from Kandahar.

The Foreign Office in London said three British nationals were among the prisoners now held on Cuba and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he urged US officials to respect their basic rights.

Interrogations have not yet begun, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is still working out procedures.

Seeking to dispel concerns from human rights groups on the treatment of the prisoners, she said they were given "culturally appropriate" meals three times a day and could shower, exercise and receive medical attention daily.

She said they were receiving "very humane treatment" along Geneva Convention guidelines and would be seen by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross later this week. - Nampa-AFP