"The Americans tell me they don't know and they are (better) equipped than us to trace him (bin Laden). And our own intelligence services obviously think that he does not exist any more, that he is dead," Zardari told a panel of foreign journalists during an interview at the presidency in Islamabad [Images].

The President's remarks come as United States' intelligence and military reports believe that the elusive Al Qaeda chief is hiding in Pakistan's restive tribal region or in the mountains bordering Afghanistan.

Asked about reports that the Taliban [Images] in the northwestern Swat valley had said that they would welcome the Al Qaeda chief, Zardari said Pakistan's intelligence set-up believes that Osama bin Laden is dead.

"But there is no evidence; you cannot take that as a fact... We are between facts and fiction," Zardari said. "The question is whether he is alive or dead. There is no trace of him," he added.