Osama bin Laden today denied any involvement in last week's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
"The US is pointing the finger at me but I categorically state that I have not done this," bin Laden said in a statement faxed to the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) news agency.
"Those who have done it, they have done it in their personal interest," bin Laden said in the statement, which AIP said had been sent to them by bin Laden aide Abdul Samad.
Bin Laden said he did not have the means to organise terrorist attacks because of restrictions placed on his contacts with the outside world by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.
"I'm living in Afghanistan. I'm a follower of Amir Ul-Momineen (Omar) who does not allow me to participate in such activities," the statement, written in bin Laden's native language, Arabic, said.
AIP is a private news agency but has close contacts with the Taliban militia which rules most of Afghanistan.
The United States has identified bin Laden as the prime suspect in the investigation into last week's attacks, which left more than 5,000 people dead.
AFP