AFP

Islamabad / Dubai, Sep 20:  Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden declares "war" on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his army in a new message to be released by the network's media arm, according to IntelCenter, a US organisation which monitors Islamist websites.

IntelCenter said the video or audio message, entitled "Come to Jihad," was expected to be released in the next 72 hours.

In another video released by Al-Qaeda's media arm, Al-Sahab, bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri also warned that Musharraf would be "punished" over the killing of a Pakistani cleric killed in the storming of the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July.

A string of videos and audio messages have been issued by Al-Qaeda to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

In the latest al-Qaeda video released, Zawahiri and others taunt the United States over alleged Islamist victories in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere and calls for Muslim allies of Washington to be driven from power.

The 81-minute video is a compilation of old TV news clips mixed with new comments Zawahiri, and details of it were made public today by SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist websites.