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Web site says bin Laden to declare war on Musharraf

Pakistan yesterday dismissed a reported declaration of war by Osama bin Laden against President Pervez Musharraf, vowing that the country's fight against al-Qaeda would continue.

"We are already committed to fighting extremists and terrorists -- there is no change in our policy," chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said when asked about bin Laden's threat.

"If someone is hurling threats at us, that is their view. The whole nation is behind us and the Pakistan army is a national institution," Arshad said.

`tyrant'

An Islamist Web site yesterday said that bin Laden was to release a message declaring war on the "tyrant Pervez Musharraf and his apostate army."

Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, remains chief of the Pakistani army and became a key ally of the US after the Sept. 11 attacks, masterminded by the al-Qaeda supremo.

Pakistan has suffered a dramatic upsurge in Islamist violence since the siege and storming of the al-Qaeda-linked Red Mosque in Islamabad by government troops in July, which left more than 100 people dead.

`desperate'

"The message shows bin Laden is getting desperate and it could be a signal to sleeper cells in Pakistan to get active," a senior Pakistani security official said on condition of anonymity.

"We may see an escalation in the continuing attacks against the security forces but this statement does show the [al-Qaeda] network is feeling seriously threatened by our sustained action against them," the security official said.

A series of recent suicide blasts have targeted the Pakistani military, and officials say the attacks were carried out by militants with links to al-Qaeda and pro-Taliban fighters in Pakistan's tribal areas.

In another video released by al-Qaeda's media arm, al-Sahab, bin Laden deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri warned that Musharraf would be "punished" for the killing of Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the Red Mosque's deputy leader.

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