Omar appealed to the US for patience in its demands to give up bin Laden. He said the Taleban wanted any proof against the Saudi multimillionaire to be handed to the Afghan Supreme Court or to clerics of three Islamic countries.
"We want America to gather complete information and find the culprits," he said, referring to the suicide plane attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in which nearly 6000 people died. Bin Laden is the prime suspect.
"We assure the whole world that neither Osama nor anyone else can use Afghan territory against anyone," he was quoted as saying.
Mullah Omar was sticking to a line set out by the Taleban Ambassador to Pakistan on the day of the attacks. "This is a terrorist act and we strongly condemn it," said Abdul Salam Zaeef.
He called for a thorough investigation and said those responsible should be brought to justice.
As the clerics met, America's sabre-rattling response to last week's devastation gave way to feverish diplomatic and military preparations.
US bases around the world were buzzing with heightened activity, although most defence analysts believe a decisive military response is some way off.
The US and its allies appear to have weighed up the odds of a quick-fire attack against bin Laden succeeding in fortress-like Afghanistan.
Officials also recognise that neutralising their prime suspect will do nothing to prevent a repeat of last week's nightmare.
An early cosmetic strike is likely to be followed by a longer campaign of attrition, defence experts say.
Urged by Europe against invading Afghanistan with ground forces, the US is hoping to establish military bases in Pakistan and Central Asia, from where special forces can attack specific targets, eliminate their opponents and return to base after a few days.
While preparing for war, Bush Administration officials are working overtime to weld an international coalition against terror - one which will legitimise military strikes and lessen the threat of reprisals against the US and its supporters.
Officials want binding commitments for military, intelligence and other assistance from nations surrounding Afghanistan.
They are also seeking agreements on bases and forces with nations that have pledged support for the proposed coalition "before anyone changes their minds".
Secretary of State Colin Powell was to meet his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, overnight and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was due to meet top Russian officials in Moscow.
The Armitage mission was to ask whether US forces could use Russian airspace and the airspace of former Soviet republics such as Uzbekistan or Tajikistan. Uzbekistan has expressed willingness to help a possible military effort, while Tajikistan has said it will not, without Russian approval.
It emerged yesterday that the US was preparing an assault on Afghanistan well before last week's devastating attacks.
Senior US officials told former Pakistani Foreign Secretary Niaz Naik in mid-July of a plan to kill or capture bin Laden and Mullah Omar unless bin Laden was swiftly handed over.
Naik was told that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by mid-October. The US would launch its operation from bases in Tajikistan, where American advisers were already in place. Ukbekistan would also participate and 17,000 Russian troops were on standby.
Naik says he has no doubt that after last week, the plan will be built on and implemented within two or three weeks.
But Moscow's approval is a prerequisite to any assault from the north - and it has expressed concerns about increased US influence and destabilisation of the central Asian region.
Pakistan has agreed to allow US planes to fly over its territory if necessary, but has not been asked to accept ground forces. Like others in the region, Pakistan's promises of support in a war against terrorism risk an internal revolt. A sustained military assault on Afghanistan would provoke Islamic uprisings.
US officials are due in Islamabad to discuss specific ways in which Pakistan can help.
French President Jacques Chirac met President Bush in Washington yesterday and British Prime Minister Tony Blair is due tomorrow.
Map: Opposing forces in the war against terror
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The fatal flights
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Victims and survivors
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