US claim on Laden is politicking: Pakistan

"He can say this but we have no sound information. This is a political statement," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told AFP.

The US State Department official in charge of counter-terrorism affairs, Joseph Cofer Black, told local Geo television on Saturday that the forces pursuing the al-Qaeda chief had got closer to him in the past two months.

"If he has a watch, he should be looking at it because the clock is ticking. He will be caught," Black, who headed a US delegation to Islamabad for bilateral anti-terrorism talks, said in the television interview.

"What I tell people, I would be surprised but not necessarily shocked if we wake up tomorrow and he's been caught along with all his lieutenants. That can happen because of the programs and infrastructure in place."