Both US President George W. Bush and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry reacted strongly to a new video tape by Osama bin Laden on Friday and vowed to hunt down the terrorists.

Kerry was quicker to respond by declaring that he will "stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists."

"As Americans, we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. They are barbarians and I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes," Kerry said in a statement.

"There will be no negotiations with the terrorists," the statement said.

Moments later, Bush vowed that the United States will not intimidated by the terrorists.

"Let me make this very clear. Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I am sure Senator Kerry agrees with this. I also want to say to the American people that we are at war with these terrorists. And I am confident that we will prevail," Bush said in a statement.

Earlier Friday, the White House said it believed that the bin Laden video tape was authentic and was recently made. However, the White House said there would be no change to the terror alert level at the moment.

On the suddenly-appeared video tape, aired by the Arab television station Al-Jazeera, bin Laden threatened to launch new attacks against the United States similar to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people. Osama bin Laden has been accused by the United States of masterminding the terror attacks.

Bin Laden, in traditional white robes, a turban and a cloak, also accused Bush of misleading and deceiving the Americans after the Sept. 11 attacks,

"Despite entering the fourth year after Sept. 11, Bush is still deceiving you and hiding the truth from you and therefore the reasons are still there to repeat what happened," said the al Qaida leader.

"Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al-Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands," bin Laden said.

The video tape, appearing just several days before the Nov. 2 US presidential election, is expected to highlight the already dominant theme of war on terrorism taken by both Bush and Kerry.