PESHAWAR, May 6: Militants in the Waziristan tribal region on Saturday distributed leaflets in the name of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, calling for the assassination of President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Musharraf has survived several assassination attempts by Pakistani jihadi groups since siding with US President Bush in a global war on terrorism following the Sept 11 attacks on the United States.

Osama’s Egyptian deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, who is believed to be moving between the Pashtun tribal lands on either side of the Pakistan-Afghan border, last month issued a videotape calling for Pakistanis to overthrow Musharraf.

Printed in Urdu, the leaflet began with an introduction in Arabic saying it was a message from Osama calling on Muslims everywhere to aid the tribes people under attack from Pakistani forces in Waziristan.

Its signoff read “Mujahideen Emirates Islamia Afghanistan.”

The leaflet was circulated in Miramshah and Mir Ali, two towns in North Waziristan, where clashes between pro-Taliban tribesmen and security forces have worsened since early March after helicopter gunships smashed a compound used by fighters, mostly from Chechnya and Central Asia and Afghanistan.—Reuters