Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has criticised Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a dispute over intelligence gathering on Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
In an interview with CNN yesterday, Mr Musharraf also said relations with neighbouring Afghanistan were growing tense and accused Mr Karzai of being "totally oblivious" to efforts by elements in his government to malign Pakistan.
Afghanistan is facing an increasingly vicious insurgency by the Taliban, who have been fighting since they were ousted shortly after the September 11th attacks when Pakistan dropped support for the radical Islamists.
Although Pakistan officially ended its support, many Afghans are convinced the Taliban could not survive and fight without the benefit of Pakistani refuges from where they plot and launch attacks into Afghanistan. Pakistan has long rejected such accusations.
Mr Karzai visited Pakistan last month and handed over what Afghan officials said was detailed information about Taliban members and activities in Pakistan, including telephone numbers and the location of supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
But Mr Musharraf said much of the information was old and useless. "Two-thirds of it is months old, and it is outdated, and there is nothing," he said.
"The location that they are talking of Mullah Omar is nonsense. There's nobody there. We've gone there exactly and seen that there are families living there and there's no sign of Mullah Omar," he said.
Mr Musharraf said he believed there was a conspiracy against his country within Afghanistan's defence ministry and intelligence agencies, which are dominated by members of the old Northern Alliance.
The alliance, which helped US forces oust the Taliban, is made up of ethnic Tajik factions traditionally close to Pakistan's old rival, India.
"I am totally disappointed with their intelligence, and I feel there is a very, very deliberate attempt to malign Pakistan," Mr Musharraf said. "Karzai should pull up his intelligence, he should pull up his ministry of defence, he should co-ordinate with our intelligence," he said.