ISLAMABAD, Sept 21: Osama bin Laden’s call for Pakistanis to rise up against their US-allied military leader struck a chord among an angry, extremist minority but resonated little among the wider public and was dismissed by the government on Friday as “ridiculous.’’

Still, it could feed into growing debate over whether Pakistan is sacrificing its own stability by supporting Washington’s unpopular war on terror.

The Al Qaeda chief’s audio message, released on Thursday, urged Pakistanis to wage a jihad or holy war against Gen Pervez Musharraf, whose decision to send troops into the Red Mosque in the capital and against Islamic militants at the Afghan border has stoked an insurgency.

The government on Friday dismissed the idea that many in Pakistan would respond to the latest call to arms.

“If Osama bin Laden has spoken to the people and urged them to rise, and the people were really following him, they would have done so much earlier,’’ said army spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad. “He doesn’t have much following here.’’

Presidential spokesman Rashid Qureshi said the government wanted to avoid giving bin Laden any more publicity. ‘’I think a response to such ridiculous rhetoric is just dignifying it. We don’t want to do that.’’ But a Pakistani intelligence official said on Friday that authorities had to take the statement seriously -- a similar message from Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri preceded twin attempts on Gen Musharraf’s life in December 2003.—AP