"Osama bin Laden is still alive," Bush said in an interview to British television channel Skynews.

Asked if he had ordered any special effort to take Osama before he left the White House early next year, Bush said: "Well, I said "dead or alive" right after September the 11th."

"It's an unfortunate statement I made. But inherent in that statement is our desire to bring him to justice," Bush, now on a visit to Britain, said.

When asked if he considered his statement as inappropriate and that hurt Washington's ties with the Muslim world, Bush said: "Yes. Look, it was unscripted, I spoke my mind, and it just sent the wrong signal. I didn't realise it at the time, obviously; otherwise I wouldn't have said it."

Reacting to a media report that he had ordered a 'special hunt' for Osama, Bush said: "It's a little bit of press hyperventilating -- after all, that's what we've been doing ever since September the 11th."

Laura Bush, who was also interviewed, was asked whether her husband's statement on Osama was an "unfortunate" statement when he used the Wild West language, she said: "Sort of."

When quizzed further, she said: "Well, I don't know why exactly. Just didn't sound serious, really, I think."

The US President claimed that al Qaeda has been "routed" in Iraq and driven out of their safe haven in Afghanistan.

"They made a declaration that they're going to have -- you know, to run parts of Iraq. They've been -- we've routed them in Iraq. That's not to say that they're not still dangerous or want to come back, but they've been routed."

However, Bush said that al Qaeda still remains lethal."