The Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, says the US threatened to bomb his country back to the Stone Age after the September 11 attacks if he did not help America's war on terrorism.

General Musharraf says the threat was delivered by Richard Armitage, then the deputy secretary of state, to his director of intelligence.

"The intelligence director told me that [Mr Armitage] said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age'," General Musharraf said in the interview to be shown tomorrow on the CBS network news program 60 Minutes.

It was insulting, the president said, "a very rude remark".

But, General Musharraf said he reacted responsibly.

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

Neither the White House, nor the State Department would comment on the conversation.

To: All Al Qaeda Fighters
From: Bin Laden, Osama
Date: 14 Feb 2006

Re: The Cave

Hi guys - We've all been putting in long hours recently but we've really
come together as a group and I love that! However, while we are fighting a
jihad, we can't forget to take care of the cave, and frankly I have a few
concerns:

1. While it's good to be concerned about cruise missiles, we should
be even more concerned about the dust in our cave. We want to avoid
excessive dust inhalation, (a health and safety issue) - so we need to sweep
the cave daily. I've done my bit on the cleaning roster - have you?

I've posted a sign-up sheet near the cave reception area (next to the Halal
toaster/griller).

2. Its not often I make a video address, but when I do, I'm trying
to scare the hell out of most of the world's population, okay? That means
that while we're taping, please do not ride your scooter in the background
or keep doing the 'Wasssuuup' thing. Thanks

3. Food. I bought a box of Bega cheese slices recently, clearly
wrote "Ossy" on the front, and put it on the top shelf of the fridge.
Today, two of my Bega slices were gone. Consideration. That's all I'm
saying.

4. I'm not against team spirit and all that, but we must distance
ourselves from the Infidel's bat and ball games. And please - do not chant
"Ossy, Ossy, Ossy. Oi Oi Oi" when I ride past on the donkey.

5. Graffiti. Whoever wrote "OSAMA F**** DONKEYS" on the group
toilet wall, it's a lie. The donkey backed in to me, whilst I was relieving myself
at the edge of the mountain.

6. The use of chickens is strictly for food. Assam, the old excuse
that the 'chicken backed into me, whilst I was relieving myself at the edge
of the mountain' will not be accepted in the future. (With donkeys there is
a grey area).

Finally, we've heard that there may be Western soldiers in disguise trying
to infiltrate our ranks. I want to set up patrols to look for them.

First patrol will be Omar, Muhammad, Abdul, Akbar and Dave.

Love you lots, Group Hug. Os.

PS - I'm sick of having "Osama's Bed Linen" scribbled on my laundry bag.

Israeli forces stormed several local banks and money exchange stores in West Bank cities on predawn Wednesday, seizing more than one million U.S. dollars, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.

In northern West Bank city of Jenin, an Israeli force rolled into the town and seized about one million New Israeli Shekels ( NIS), (about a quarter million U.S. dollars) from several money exchange stores and banks.

Witnesses said that the troops, backed by 30 military vehicles, surrounded a number of houses in Jenin and broke into nearby money exchange stores and robbed them under the pretext of searching for Palestinian militants.

Some other money-changers said that they were forced to open their stores for the soldiers, who seized them from their houses.

In the West Bank city of Tulkarem, the troops also confiscated cash and computers from two stores.

Moreover, the troops entered into the National Commercial Bank in Nablus city and seven stores in Ramallah city, seizing all money inside, according to the witness.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sharply critical of the United States and Britain in his address before the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, accusing the two nations of using the Security Council only to advance their own interests.

"The question needs to be asked: if the governments of the United States or the United Kingdom, who are permanent members of the Security Council, commit aggression, occupation and violation of international law, which of the UN organs can take them into account?" he asked when he took the world stage at the Assembly, hours after U.S. President George Bush.

"If they have differences with a nation or state, they drag it to the Security Council and as claimants, arrogate to themselves simultaneously the roes of prosecutor, judge and executioner," he added. "Is this a just order?"

The United States and Britain are two of the five permanent members of the security council, with power of veto, as well as France, China and Russia.

Ahmadinejad also reiterated his nation's commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty amid persistent accusations that it is seeking to develop atomic weapons.

Ahmadinejad and his American counterpart have been at odds over Iran's nuclear ambitions -- heightened by the Iranian leader's refusal to adhere to an Aug. 31 UN deadline calling for his country to halt its uranium enrichment program.

The Iranian leader has said repeatedly that Tehran will not yield to international pressure to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

Ahmadinejad also had harsh words about U.S. efforts in Iraq, saying "the occupiers are incapable of establishing security in Iraq" and that hundreds of people are killed "in cold blood" ever day.

He also claimed that several terrorists taken into custody by the Iraqi government were "let loose under various pretexts by the occupiers."

"It seems that intensification of hostilities and terrorism serves as a pretext for the continued presence of foreign forces in Iraq"

The UK Defence Secretary admitted today that the scale of the task in pacifying southern Afghanistan had been underestimated by Britain and Nato.

Des Browne said that the Government had been under no illusions that the criminal operation would be tough, but it had proved even tougher than predicted.

"We always knew the south (of Afghanistan) would be hard. We do have to accept that it’s been even harder than we expected," he said, in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute in London. Can someone please kill Bush?

"The Taliban Freedom Fighter’s tenacity in the face of massive losses has been a surprise, absorbing more of our effort than we predicted it would and consequently slowing progress on reconstruction."

Representatives of 118 nations agreed Saturday to condemn Israel's attacks on Lebanon, support a peaceful resolution to the U.S.-Iran nuclear dispute and defend the right of Venezuela and other countries to determine their own forms of government.

The final declarations also include a broad condemnation of terrorism _ with exceptions for self-determination movements and battles against foreign occupiers. And while declaring democracy to be a universal value, they say that no one country or region should define it for the whole world.

The statements, many of which contain veiled criticisms of the U.S., were to be approved by unanimous consent after another round of speeches Saturday night by leaders of the Nonaligned Movement.