By GEOFF SPENCER and TRACY CONNOR December 18, 2001 -- Hounded out of their caves and captured on the run, Osama bin Laden's vaunted al Qaeda fighters broke down in tears yesterday and begged not to be turned over to the Americans. 
As Afghan tribal militiamen and U.S. Special Forces hunted the rest of the terror chief's decimated army, crying captives were led down snowcapped mountains near Tora Bora on mules. 
Once-swaggering mercenaries - their hands tied behind their backs with red nylon rope - covered their faces or stared blankly ahead as they limped past a mosque in one village. 
Nine Afghan and nine Arab prisoners were pushed into a dusty yard and paraded past reporters, but were not allowed to speak. Several appeared to be injured, and one had his head wrapped in bandages. 
"When they were fighting us, they were very proud men," said 23-year-old villager Manoghul. "Now they are weak. They cannot even look at us." 
Another 13 al Qaeda fighters were being held in the mountains by tribal commander Haji Zahir, and they pleaded with their captors not to turn them over to U.S. forces. 
Khudaifa - a 17-year-old from Kuwait who joined al Qaeda with his father, who was then killed by a U.S. bomb - feared he wouldn't live long enough to become an American prisoner. 
"I haven't had a drink for two days," he said. "If you don't give me water, I will die." 
U.S. officials had not yet determined if those seized over the last two days included any high-ranking members of bin Laden's force, and they said it's possible some had bribed their way to freedom. 
Pakistan is holding close to 100 al Qaeda fighters seized at the border, but nearly all the prisoners were in the custody of American-backed Afghan tribal forces. 
With the United States anxious to interrogate the captives, however, that could soon change. 
American officials are trying to arrange for some 300 al Qaeda members to be transferred to U.S. custody - probably at Camp Rhino, near Kandahar, where a detention center is under construction. 
"There'll be more detainees coming," the Pentagon's spokesman, Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, said. 
At least five captives have been taken aboard the USS Peleliu, a Navy helicopter assault ship, officials said. 
The identities of only two are known: David Hicks, a 26-year-old Australian captured fighting alongside the Taliban, and John Walker, a 20-year- old American found with Taliban forces last month. 
Walker, who is classified as a battlefield detainee but could face charges of treason, has been interrogated. 
"He has been questioned, properly questioned, by the U.S. government," President Bush said, adding that a decision on whether Walker will be charged has not been made.