The United States threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" unless it joined the fight against al-Qaeda, President Pervez Musharraf says.

General Musharraf said the warning was delivered by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to Pakistan's intelligence director.

"I think it was a very rude remark," Mr Musharraf told CBS television.

Pakistan agreed to side with the US, but Gen Musharraf said it did so based on his country's national interest.

"One has to think and take actions in the interest of the nation, and that's what I did," he said.

'Ludicrous' requests

The extracts from the CBS show 60 Minutes, which will run on Sunday, were released on the same day that the White House praised Pakistan for its co-operation in America's "war on terror".

Gen Musharraf is due to meet US President George W Bush at the White House on Friday.

Protest in Islamabad
The US allegedly ordered Pakistan to crush dissent

The Pakistani president said that, following the attacks of 11 September 2001, the US made some "ludicrous" demands of Pakistan.

"The intelligence director told me that Mr Armitage said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age'," he said.

The US envoy also insisted that Pakistan suppress domestic expression of support for attacks on the United States, he said.

"If somebody's expressing views, we cannot curb the expression of views," Gen Musharraf said.

Mr Armitage also allegedly demanded that Pakistan allow the US to use its border posts as staging points for the war on Afghanistan.

Pakistan's support was considered crucial in the defeat of Afghanistan's Taleban government, which Pakistan had helped to bring to power.

President Musharraf has proved a loyal ally though many now will question the means used to extract the co-operation, says the BBC's US state department correspondent Jonathan Beale.

this has to be true. It's on a BBC website. BBC is holy scripture.

LOL when it comes to the press the idea of honesty is almost as foreign to them as it is to politicians.

actually I can understand the desire to bomb pakistan. I can also understand putting them on the spot. They have consistantly allowed binladen and comapany to hide on their soil. I just question the verasity of that news article.

He said, she said, you said, I trust BBC 100% more than the cowboys administration, and you of course are NOT a Republican.

If you can name a few honest politicians I would be glad to know. I would actually like to have at least some faith in the system.

George Washington.

*salutes*

Hated his job, didn't do $hit, wanted to leave asap. That's how you know they're honest.

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Friday that he knew of no threat by the United States to attack Pakistan if it didn't ended its support for the Taliban and cooperate in the war on al Qaida following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"The first I've heard of this is when I read it in the newspaper today," Bush told a news conference he held with Musharraf following talks between the two leaders at the White House.

Musharraf declined to comment, citing a confidentiality requirement of a deal on his soon-to-be published memoirs.

The Pakistani leader, who seized power in a 1999 coup, told the CBS program "60 Minutes" in an interview to be aired Sunday that former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage threatened a U.S. attack on Pakistan unless it stopped supporting the Taliban and helped hunt down Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 strikes.

Pakistan backed the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, and had resisted repeated U.S. requests for helping in tracking down bin Laden, who maintained bases and training camps around the country.

Musharraf told "60 Minutes" that Armitage delivered the warning to the then-director of Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence.

"Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age," he quoted Armitage as warning Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, who was in Washington when the attacks in New York and Washington took place. Ahmed was purged shortly after returning to Islamabad.

Armitage denied ever making such a threat in a telephone interview on Thursday with McClatchy Newspapers. "I didn't command any airplanes," he said.

Armitage said he used "strong language" to convey to Ahmed demands for Pakistan's cooperation against al Qaida and the Taliban.

He recalled telling Ahmed that "history begins today" and "you're either with us or against us."

I said I was republican leaning towards Independent. I don't trust either party to do whats right. Hell they are the same animal but using different rhetoric. The press tell the truth? In my 43 years I can't remember them reporting the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They like politicians all have an agenda.
By the way I never said I trusted the Bush administration either.
Politicians are inherently evil people. I am convinced of this. Nobody runs for office for the pay, or because they think they will make the world a better place. Its called power... They lust for it worse than a sailor on a 9 month cruise lusts for sex.
If you can name a few honest politicians I would be glad to know. I would actually like to have at least some faith in the system.