Rebuffing Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's offer of a truce, the US on Thursday said it does not negotiate with terrorists and vowed to intensify efforts to track him down.
US Vice President Dick Cheney, terming the offer as a ploy, said, "I'm not sure what he's offering by way of a truce. I don't think anybody would believe him... It sounds to me like it's some kind of a ploy but again not having seen the entire text or validated the tape and the timing of it, I'm reluctant to draw any conclusions," Cheney told Fox TV network.
"Al Qaeda was unlikely ever to sit down and sign a truce," he said, adding, "I think you have to destroy them. It is the only way with them."
The White House too made it clear that there would be no let up in the war on terror.
"We do not negotiate with terrorists. We put them out of business," Spokesman Scott McClellan said.
"The al Qaeda leaders and the terrorist are on the run. They are under a lot of pressure," he said.
The spokesman said, "We must act on all fronts and use every tool within our disposal to defeat the terrorists."
The Central Intelligence Agency identified the voice on an audiotape aired by al Jazeera television as that of bin Laden. It was the al Qaeda leader's first public communication to the outside world in more than a year, his last one being in December 2004.
In the tape, Laden warns that his men are preparing new attacks against the US but offers Americans a truce.
