"Osama bin Laden's presence anywhere in that area cannot be ruled out," foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan told reporters.

"But if anybody knows about the whereabouts of OBL (Osama bin Laden), they should get in touch with the intelligence agencies either here in Pakistan or in Afghanistan or with US agencies," Khan said.

He was responding to a statement by the US ambassador to Pakistan, Nancy Powell, in local newspapers last week that bin Laden might be hiding in the semi-autonomous tribal region in northwestern Pakistan.

Since the terror attacks in the United States in September 2001, bin Laden and his al-Qaida network have become the face of global terrorism and are the target of a massive US military campaign.

Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led "war against terrorism" has arrested some 500 al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives in the 22-month old campaign, but conflicting reports continue to surface as to the status and location of the al-Qaida chief, who has 25-million dollar price on his head.

Xinhua adds: Four Pakistani army officers are in custody, facing investigations for links with al-Qaeda, local media said yesterday.

A report of the Dawn, an Islamabad-based newspaper, said the rank of the detained officers is up to lieutenant colonel, adding that the officers were arrested after a lead was provided by some high-profiled assistants of Osama bin-Laden, who were nabbed in Pakistan earlier this year.

The report denied that the army service men were arrested in and handed over from Afghanistan by US intelligence agencies.