The US Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld said today the US would never agree to allow Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to remain free.
He was responding to reports of a deal between Omar and Afghan opposition forces to surrender the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.
"Our cooperation and assistance with those people would clearly take a turn south if something were to be done in respect to the senior people in that situation that is inconsistent with what I have said," Mr Rumsfeld said.
He also has referred to Omar as a "dead-ender" unlikely to surrender because the Taliban leader has said in the past he would fight to the death.
The White House on also turned aside the idea of extending protections to Omar.
"The president believes very strongly that those who harbor terrorists need to be brought to justice," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
Asked further what justice for Omar would entail, Fleischer said, "The president has left that undefined."