US rejects Bin Laden call for truce

aljazeera: The US has rejected a truce offer from Osama bin Laden, with the White House declaring: "We do not negotiate with terrorists. We put them out of business."

The al-Qaida chief made the proposal in an audiotape broadcast by the Aljazeera satellite television network, and authenticated by the CIA, in which bin Laden warned of pending attacks in the "heartland" of the United States.

But he also offered a "long-term truce" if Washington withdrew its military presence from Iraq and Afghanistan - the latter his former safe haven until US forces ousted his Taliban allies after the September 11 attacks.

Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday said the message showed that the al-Qaida network had been driven "underground" and was now unable to produce video messages, but warned the group was still lethal.

Asked about bin Laden's truce offer, Cheney told Fox News Channel that it sounded like "a ploy" and that "this is not an organisation that is ever going to sit down and sign a truce. I think you have to destroy them. It's the only way to deal with them." Read more

db: Bin Laden "now unable to produce video messages" - does that mean 'we' are winning or something?