US threatened to bomb Pakistan, says Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf

NEW YORK - President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan said that after the September 11 attacks the United States threatened to bomb his country if it did not co-operate with America's war against the Taleban in Afghanistan.

Musharraf, in an interview with the CBS television news show 60 Minutes, said the threat came from Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and was given to Musharraf's intelligence director.

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

"I think it was a very rude remark."

The Pakistani leader, whose remarks were distributed to the media by CBS, said he reacted to the threat in a responsible way.

"One has to think and take actions in the interest of the nation, and that's what I did," Musharraf said about the cooperation extended by Pakistan.

Musharraf said some demands made by the United States were "ludicrous," including one insisting he suppress domestic expression of support for terrorism against the United States.

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

- REUTERS