Afghanistan's ruling Taliban has dismissed reports linking Osama Bin Laden to terrorist attacks on the United States.
They have also repeated that they would not hand over the Saudi dissident, despite growing fears of a US military attack on the country.
Taliban Foreign Minister Mr Wakil Ahmed Mutawakel said claims that Western intelligence services had evidence of Bin Laden's involvement in plotting the attacks on New York and Washington were not credible.
"The intelligence services have to say something because they are responsible to the people of the US and the Congress," Mr Mutawakel said. "So in order to mask their failure they will accuse anyone".
The minister reiterated the Taliban's view that Bin Laden did not have the logistical capacity to have masterminded the attacks and appealed to US President Mr George W. Bush not to be rushed into military action against Afghanistan.
"We welcome Bush's comments that the investigation will continue until there is proof of who is responsible," he said. "Unreasoned and emotional measures should not be taken".
Bin Laden, the millionaire scion of a wealthy Saudi family, has been based in Afghanistan since the mid-1990s.
The Taliban has repeatedly refused to extradite him but claims it has restricted his contact with the outside world in a way that makes it impossible for him to run his alleged global terrorist network.
Pakistan said earlier this year it believed the Taliban might give Bin Laden up for trial by a panel of Islamic clerics in a third country but little progress appears to have been made on the issue.
Mr Mutawakel confirmed Taliban leaders met with Pakistani diplomats on Wednesday but would not say if extradition had been addressed.
AFP