President George W. Bush said today he knew of no US threat to bomb Pakistan following the September 11th attacks.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said this week a US official warned his country in 2001 that America would bomb Pakistan "back to the Stone Age" if it did not cooperate with the campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"The first I've heard of this is when I read it in the newspaper today," Mr Bush said as he stood next to Gen Musharraf at a news conference. "I guess I was taken aback by the harshness of the words."
Gen Musharraf sidestepped the issue, saying he could not comment because of a book deal.
The Pakistani leader had told the CBS program '60 Minutes' that the threat came from then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage but Mr Armitage has since denied making such a warning.