Tehran: Iran's State radio quotes unnamed source saying Osama bin Laden was captured in Pakistan "a long time ago". A Pakistan Army spokesman denies he was captured.

The report said that US Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld's visit to the region this week was in connection with the arrest.

The State radio said a reporter for its Pushtun service in the Northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar "confirmed the news" that bin Laden had been captured in a tribal region in Pakistan. He said the news was from "a very reliable source in Peshawar", but the source was not identified.

Pakistani Army spokesman Gen Shaukat Sultan said the report is completely untrue. "That information is wrong," he said.

A Pakistani military operation has been under way in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan and a Pakistani official said previously that members of al-Qaeda are being sought there, although bin Laden was not a specific target.

Iranian State radio quoted its reporter as saying the arrest happened a long time ago.

"Osama bin Laden has been arrested a long time ago, but (US President George W) Bush is intending to use it for propaganda maneuvering in the Presidential election," he said.