Marines patrol Omar's lavish home

Behind walls one metre thick in a courtyard with fountains and pastoral murals, Mullah Mohammed Omar slept on a wooden queen-sized bed beneath gilded chandeliers.

The bedroom of the supreme Taliban leader is one of the few rooms left intact by U.S. air attacks on the compound on the outskirts of Kandahar, from where he imposed his extreme law on Afghanistan and vainly defied U.S. firepower.

Gaping holes in the compound walls mark where U.S. missiles struck, pulverising outhouses and guest rooms and leaving carefully manicured gardens littered with household debris - a shower head, broken mirrors, a cupboard overflowing with empty Pepsi cans.

But the battered remains of this desert palace offer some of the only clues to the personality and lifestyle of the mysterious and reclusive cleric, now a fugitive wanted by the United States for his support for Osama bin Laden.

The only occupants of the complex on Saturday were a cluster of Afghan guards and a dozen U.S. marines who have set up a makeshift base in a guard house, now flying the flag of the King of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah.

"Just taking a look around," drawled one marine in a deep southern accent as he pulled into the guard post in a grey Toyota Landcruiser. And where is Mullah Omar now? "If we knew that, I guess we wouldn't be here," said the marine in desert fatigues and sunglasses, before driving off to join his colleagues.

Earlier, U.S. special forces in mufti were seen scouring the area in army jeeps mounted with machine-guns on the lookout for scattered Taliban and Al Qaida diehards. But while bin Laden's thin face and flowing beard are now recognised across the world, even Mullah Omar's appearance is a mystery, let alone his current location.

Only fuzzy purported photographs exist of the man, who is known to have lost an eye fighting the Soviets. Under his leadership, the Taliban banned pictures as well as television, music and other entertainments.

Locals, who live next to the compound, say they never set eyes on the Taliban's supreme leader, also known as Amirul Momineen, or leader of the faithful.

"If 20 people came to see him, only one would be allowed in and he would be searched three times," said Fadi Mohammed, who lived near the complex and now guards the marines' outpost. "When he left the compound, he would take a convoy of 12 or 15 vehicles, all black Landcruisers with tinted windows," he said. "You never knew which one he was in."

Guarded by anti-aircraft batteries, tanks and about 400 armed guards, Mullah Omar led a reclusive life with his four wives and most loyal commanders in the sprawling compound, which includes a mosque, local residents said.

The rooms were simply but comfortably decorated with Western-style furniture and bathroom fittings. Walls were painted in pastel hues of pink and green or splashed with gaudy landscapes of mountain, oasis and village scenes.

From one of these rooms, Mullah Omar doled out scraps of paper with instructions for his commanders and wads of cash from two metal trunks - the Afghan treasury, says Taliban expert Ahmed Rashid.

Rashid portrays him as a shy man with simple tastes, who came to power with a vision to end years of bloody conflict between feuding warlords around Kandahar.

But in a country where the average civil servant earns just $12 per month, the relative luxury of his palace-fortress inspires awe, envy and anger among ordinary Afghans, who are occasionally allowed to tour the site.