The British Prime Mr Tony Blair, who travels to the United States today for talks with US President George W. Bush, has ruled out any negotiation with Afghanistan's Taliban government.
Mr Blair said the Taliban regime has "virtually merged" with the al Qaida terror group.
Speaking on CNN's Larry King Live, he said the fight against al Qaida is not something Britain could have kept out of and that the terrorist network must be eradicated.
Mr Blair said its terror attacks on the US on September 11th were "aimed at civilised values and the civilised world everywhere".
He said the international coalition against terror remained "remarkably strong" and paid tribute to Mr Bush for his "magnificent" handling of the crisis.
Asked about reports that Taliban leader Mr Mullah Omar had offered to hold face-to-face talks with him and Mr Bush, Mr Blair said this was not an option.
He said: "No, because they know what they've got to do. There's not a negotiation over it."
When questioned on humanitarian crisis, Mr Blair said about $700 million had been pledged internationally and that there was a responsibility to ensure that the organisation was there to deliver that aid.
And asked how bin Laden and Mr al Qaida could be dealt with, Mr Blair said: "As you can see from the video evidence that he puts out - his actual words - this is a man who talks about killing all Jews, about eliminating the state of Israel, about killing Christians or Americans who oppose what he stands for.
"You don't negotiate with that kind. You just defeat them.
"We have to take action and shut the whole of that terrorist network down. I mean eliminate it, eradicate it."
PA