In a rare face off, US President George W Bush has threatened to send American forces in pursuit of Osama bin Laden, inviting a firm refusal by President Pervez Musharraf who said his troops were capable of doing the job themselves.
Responding to a question if he would order US forces to go after bin Laden in Pakistan if he received good intelligence on the fugitive al Qaeda leader's location, President Bush in an interview to CNN said Wednesday, "absolutely".
"We would take action necessary to bring him (bin Laden) to justice," said Bush, who is meeting Musharraf at the White House next week.
Later addressing a press conference, Musharraf said that he would not allow the sovereignty of his country to be breached by the US.
"We will do it ourselves... we are able to do everything, wherever we locate anybody... there have been many such occasions where we have located al Qaeda or Taliban activity and we have struck with full force very successfully," Musharraf told reporters when asked about Bush's comment.
Bush praised the Pakistani President for his efforts to dismantle al Qaeda terror network.
"I view President Musharraf as somebody who would like to bring al Qaeda to justice. As a matter of fact we would be discussing that with him on that subject on Friday at the
White House," he said.
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