The United State said Monday that it has not decided to double a 25-million-dollar bounty for terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, but the possibility is left open.

State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told a regular news briefing that legislation enacted late last year allowed a hike in the bounty, but said, "There is no decision made at this time whether to do it."

However, Ereli did not rule out an eventual increase in the price tag for information helping US officials catch the Saudi-born militant blamed for the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

"Obviously, as is always the case in the Rewards for Justice program, the amount of the reward is something that we keep under regular and consistent review to assess whether it's appropriate, whether it needs adjusting or not," the spokesman said.

The US has been hunting Al-Qaida's chief since the 9/11 attackson New York and Washington, with US troops scouring Afghanistan's mountainous border with Pakistan where he is believed to be hiding.

Time Magazine reported recently that the administration of President George W. Bush was likely to raise the bounty on Al-Qaida's chief to 50 million dollars by the end of February. Enditem

Source: Xinhua