WASHINGTON, Oct 10: President George Bush has refused to publicly endorse Gen Pervez Musharraf’s belief that the US-led bombing campaign in Afghanistan will be a short one.

At his news conference on Monday, Gen Musharraf had said he was hoping—”and I have got definite assurances — that this (Afghan) operation will be short”.

Asked for a comment on this when he came out after talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder on Tuesday afternoon, President Bush replied, rather testily: “I don’t know who told the Pakistan president that. Generally, you know, we don’t talk about military plans.”

President Bush added that one way to shorten the campaign in Afghanistan was for Osama bin Laden and his leadership “to be turned over so they can be brought to justice”.

A New York Times report on Wednesday interpreted this as revealing the first sign of tension in the US-Pakistan relationship since Islamabad pledged its support to the US.