WASHINGTON, Dec 15, 2001 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Theories about how the end might come for Osama bin Laden will soon get their test if fighters in the Afghan mountains are right in their belief he is still there to be found.

Various methods and motivations are in play, any one of which might result in his death. There is, most obviously, the increasingly focused torrent of U.S. bombs, combined with slowly progressing ground forces.

His end might come in ways not imagined, thanks to the $25 million reward being dangled.

Some people familiar with the ways of terrorists say bin Laden might die by his own hand, or by request to a trusted lieutenant, if faced with death from those he considers infidels.

Lexington Institute military analyst Dan Goure believes bin Laden's interest in martyrdom would recommend a fight to the death on his part. If he is the final al-Qaida member to die, so much the better for the legend.

"The best he can hope is that this is going to be like Custer's Last Stand," he said.

Suicide is forbidden by Islamic law. But more radical groups interpret the Quran to sanction suicide missions against enemies to gain martyrdom. Fanatics may even commit mass suicide in the cause of holy war or to avoid capture, torture or death by the enemy's hand, scholars say.

Arab press reports have suggested bin Laden has sought and received an edict from clergy close to him, permitting him to take his life if he faces capture or death from opposition forces.

Goure disagrees with the common view that bin Laden's capture would be less preferable for America because of the headache of putting him on trial and because it might be less satisfying to the U.S. psyche than killing him.

"The best we can hope, I suspect, is that he is found alone, begging for his life, and we take him out in chains."

All that supposes bin Laden is within reach.

Scenarios for his escape include the possibility ships owned by al-Qaida could spirit him far away if he makes it out of landlocked Afghanistan. U.S. warships are checking merchant vessels on the chance they are carrying al-Qaida terrorists.

President Bush has professed indifference over how bin Laden gets "justice," as long as he gets it. "Dead or alive - either way," he said.

The challenge of hunting al-Qaida fighters in caves is compounded by the difficulty of figuring out who is dead among the chambers.

Bodies found after a raid provide ready verification. But confirmation of bin Laden's death could take some time if he is killed in a bomb strike that leaves behind mass casualties, or if he commits suicide in a secret or inaccessible area.

One distinctive body feature being kept in mind by U.S. officials: bin Laden's height, about 6 feet, 5 inches.

Three senior al-Qaida leaders are known to be dead: Egyptians Mohammed Atef, Tariq Anwar al-Sayyid Ahmad and Muhammad Salah, all killed by U.S. airstrikes last month.

The United States learned of Atef initially through intercepted communications of people discussing his death. U.S. officials confirmed reports that the wife and children of bin Laden aide Ayman al-Zawahri were killed, through a death notice in an Egyptian newspaper.

While officials realize some al-Qaida figures could try to fake death to escape, that behavior is not expected.

Recent history is uneven on the fate of men wanted for slaughter.

Ugandan strongman Idi Amin lives in exile in Saudi Arabia; Haiti's Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier went to France. Pol Pot, whose Khmer Rouge rained death and brutality on Cambodians, died in 1998, apparently of heart failure, in the custody of a ruthless rival.

As a consequence of military action, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is in a U.S. prison and former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic faces trial on charges of war crimes and genocide.

The United States has made clear it would not tolerate undisturbed exile for bin Laden, blamed for the deaths of more than 3,000 people in the attacks on New York and Washington.

By CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press Writer

Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All rights reserved