The exiled Saudi Arabian now lives in Afghanistan and was speaking to local journalists. Mr Bin Ladan said he had "no hand in the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania", which killed more than 200 people.

But he said he was not sorry they occurred.

More than 200 died in the bombings of the two embassies

After publicly naming Mr bin Laden, President Clinton ordered an American attack on what he said were his camps in Afghanistan, as well as on a chemical factory in Sudan.

Mr bin Laden has denied he is using bases in Taleban-controlled areas of Afghanistan to launch international terrorist attacks.

The Taleban authorities in Afghanistan consider Mr bin Laden to be a guest in the country, but the movement has instructed him not to become involved in any hostile activity against another country.

The Taleban recently asked foreign governments to provide evidence to back up their charges against him, but they say that no evidence was handed over to them.

US federal prosecutors have been building a case against Osama bin Laden and his al Queda organisation since at least 1995. Their efforts expanded after the embassy bombings.