Islamabad - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said on Monday the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden remained unknown and there were unconfirmed reports from local intelligence agencies that he might be dead.

"The Americans tell me they don't know, and they are much more equipped than us to trace him. And our own intelligence services obviously think that he does not exist any more, that he is dead," Zardari told a group of foreign journalists.

But the president acknowledged that Pakistani intelligence did not have evidence on bin Laden's death.

Islamabad, Apr. 27 : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that his country's intelligence believes that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead, but they have no proof to back their claims.

"The Americans tell me they don''t know, and they are much more equipped than us to trace him. And our own intelligence services obviously think that he does not exist any more, that he is dead. But there is no evidence, you cannot take that as a fact," The Nation quoted Zardari, as saying.

Islamabad, Apr. 27 : The Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) has suspended peace talks with the government in protest against the military offensive in the Lower Dir area of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

"No talks will be held with government until end of operation," The News quoted TNSM spokesperson Ameer Izzat Maqam, as saying.

Islamabad - A pro-Taliban cleric suspended talks with Pakistani authorities Monday, a day after paramilitary troops began an offensive against the militants in the restive north-western region. The new push began early Sunday in Lower Dir district, part of the Malakand Division where the regional government introduced Islamic sharia law this month under a truce with Taliban.

"No peace negotiations will take place with the government until a halt in the Dir operation," said Amir Izzat Khan, a spokesman for hardline cleric Sufi Mohammad, who brokered the peace pact.

Islamabad  - Taliban militants have handed over to Pakistani authorities the body of a Polish national who was beheaded in February after four months of captivity, media reports said Monday.

Piotr Stanczak, who worked for a Poland-based oil and gas exploratory firm, was kidnapped on September 28 in Attock district, just 85 kilometers from the capital Islamabad. His Pakistani guard and two other colleagues were killed during the abduction.

Islamabad, Apr. 26 : Heavily armed Taliban gunmen have looted at least seven trucks of chemical fertilizer used in making bombs in the Swat Valley, a report by the BBC claims.

According to the security officials, Taliban looted the vehicles loaded with ''ammonium nitrate'' in Chahar Bagh and Guli Bagh areas of the Valley.

Security officials said the extremists use the chemical for making bombs.