SPIN BOLDAK, Nov 21: Osama bin Laden did not have the capability to carry out the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US and the 25 million dollar bounty will not lead to his capture, a Taliban official said today.

Mohammed Saeed Haqqani, security chief at the border town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar, one of the last remaining provinces still in Taliban control, said the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon were the work of Jews trying to blacken the name of Islam.

"The US has not provided any information about his (bin Laden's) involvement in the attacks," Haqqani told reporters.

"He has not the telecommunications means to conduct such activities. Being our guest we are duty bound to protect him" and not hand him over to the US authorities.

"The Americans have offered 25 million dollars for Osama. We will give 50 million dollars for (US President George W.) Bush even though we are a poor country."

US Secretary of State Colin Powell boosted the reward for bin Laden from five million to 25 million dollars on Tuesday, with the bounty advertised in radio broadcasts to Afghanistan, and leaflets distributed on the ground.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has said that more than 22,000 tips have been received about bin Laden since September 11, but none has yielded results.

All good Muslims would reject the opportunity to cash in on the bounty for bin Laden's capture, Haqqani said. "Being good Muslims we have a strong faith, that's why it is not tempting to us."

Asked for proof of Jewish involvement in the September 11 strikes, Haqqani said 4,000 Jews had not gone to work at the World Trade Centre on the day. "And why did the television cameras know where the second plane was going to hit? They are trying to eliminate Afghanistan. They are trying to blacken our name."

The official said the US demand for bin Laden's handover was hypocritical given the fact that British author Salman Rushdie was living in New York