US President George W. Bush said Tuesday that the United States will not pay ransom for the release of American hostages in Iraq and will use intelligence efforts to try to locate them.

"We of course don't pay ransom for any hostages, what we will do of course is use our intelligence gathering to see if we can help locate them," Bush told reporters at the White House.

A militant group in Iraq threatened Tuesday to kill a US security consultant within 48 hours unless all Iraqi prisoners were freed, according to a video broadcast by Al Jazeera television.

Another American, a member of a Christian peace group, has also been seized by militants in Iraq.

Source: Xinhua