An Afghan Taliban diplomat said this morning that Mr Osama bin Laden, a prime suspect in the terror attacks on the United States, was free to leave Afghanistan but would not be forced out.
"If the man wanted to leave of his own will, we will not stop him. But if he wanted to stay in Afghanistan, we cannot make him leave," the Taliban charge d'affaires in the United Arab Emirates, Mr Aziz al-Rahman, said.
US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell on Thursday for the first time named Mr bin Laden, sheltered by the Taliban in Afghanistan, as a suspect in the attacks.
Asked if there was any chance that the Taliban would consider handing over bin Laden to the United States to spare Afghanistan the prospect of military action, Mr Aziz al-Rahman said: "Basically, this is not a consideration...We have no agreement with any country to extradite criminals or suspects to hand him over."
He repeated the position of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement that bin Laden would be handed over to an Islamic court if Washington could prove his involvement the attacks.
The hardline Taliban said on Thursday that bin Laden, who has a $5 million reward on his head for suspected involvement in the deadly 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa, had told them he had no role in Tuesday's attacks.
The Taliban said it shared with the American people their great tragedy but said the movement and the people of Afghanistan were innocent of any wrongdoing in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.