Pakistan rejected on Saturday a U.S. official's assertion that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar are operating from Pakistani territory.

A senior U.S. administration official told reporters in Washington Bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri and others were operating out of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan.

Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders were directing insurgency operations in Afghanistan from the Pakistani city of Quetta, said the U.S. official who declined to be identified.

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Pakistan has consistently denied that the militant leaders were on its territory since they disappeared when U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban in Afghanistan for refusing to hand over bin Laden after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Bin Laden and Omar are believed to have fled from Afghanistan at that time.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiqsaid if a U.S. official had information on the whereabouts of the wanted militants he should tell Pakistan.

"If there is any actionable intelligence it should be shared with the government of Pakistan so that they can be neutralized," Sadiq said. "You don't talk to the media if you have information like this."

He said the U.S. official's assertion was not correct.

"If he was right, he would claim the bounty money, not speak to the media," he said, referring to U.S. reward money for information leading to arrest of the militants.

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