Bush 'Taken Aback' by Musharraf Comment

President Bush holds a joint press conference with Pakistan President GEn. Pervez Musharraf, Friday, Sept. 22, 2006, in the East Room at the White House in Washington. President Bush met Friday with Musharraf, who has claimed a U.S. official threatened an attack on his Muslim nation if it did not cooperate in the war on terror. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) (Ron Edmonds - AP)

"It was a strong, straightforward conversation," Armitage said. He said he intended to communicate to the Pakistani official the feelings of Americans about being attacked.

Armitage said he called on Musharraf on Thursday and had trust in him.

Asked about the report, Bush said, "The first I heard of this is when I read it in the newspaper. I guess I was taken aback by the harshness of the words."

For his part, Musharraf declined to comment and cited a contract agreement with a publisher on an upcoming book. However, he told CBS the Stone Age warning "was a very rude remark."

Bush has repeatedly praised Pakistan for arresting hundreds of al-Qaida operatives inside its borders. Pakistan is the world's second-biggest Islamic country, with a population of 160 million.

But the United States has also urged Pakistan to do more to stop militants from crossing from its tribal regions into Afghanistan, where Taliban-fanned violence has reached its deadliest proportions since the American-led invasion that toppled the hard-line regime.

Pakistan earlier this month signed a truce with tribal figures. Afghanistan has protested that the militants are linked to the Taliban, the militant Islamic group that once ruled Afghanistan until driven from power in 2001.

But both Bush and Musharraf shrugged off such links and said they were united in pursuing terrorists, especially Osama bin Laden.

"When we find Osama bin Laden, he will be brought to justice. We are on the hunt together," Bush said.

Musharraf echoed him. "We are in the hunt together against these people," the Pakistani leader said.

Bush will have talks Tuesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Then, he'll have a three-way sitdown with both leaders at the White House on Wednesday.

Bush must work to placate the concerns of Pakistan, a chief ally in the war on terror, as well as the struggling democratic government in Afghanistan, which is suffering its heaviest insurgent attacks since U.S.-led troops toppled the Taliban in late 2001.