ISLAMABAD, 27 March 2004 — The Pakistani military and government yesterday poured scorn on a recorded message purported to be by a senior Al-Qaeda leader calling for the army to rise up and overthrow President Pervez Musharraf.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told a news conference yesterday that such attempts to “foment unrest” in Pakistan would not deter Musharraf’s resolve to rid the country of the menace of terrorism.

“The government of Pakistan strongly rejects this provocative statement by Al-Zawahiri if it is confirmed,” he told a news conference here.

The call was made in a tape broadcast by the Arab Al-Jazeera television late Thursday and attributed to Al-Qaeda deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri in recording described by US intelligence as “probably authentic.”

Earlier military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan scoffed at the call for the overthrow of Musharraf — who made himself president after seizing power in an October 1999 coup — describing it as absurd.

In the tape, Zawahiri apparently urges Pakistan’s people and army to rise up against Musharraf, the head of the military, which has been waging a campaign against suspected Al-Qaeda fighters holed up near the Afghan border.

“Pakistan’s military does not get orders from him (Zawahiri) so it is absolutely absurd,” military spokesman Sultan told AFP.

The tape calls on the Pakistani military to “not obey orders” and overthrow Musharraf’s administration, which it calls a “traitor government.”

Musharraf has been the target of vitriolic criticism from activists at home for his support of Washington’s self-proclaimed “war on terror.”

“I call on the Pakistani Army, the poor army that was put in a miserable state by Musharraf, the Indians are in front of you and behind you in Afghanistan,” the voice on the tape says.

“Musharraf has disposed of your nuclear arms. Are you going to remain silent until the partition of Pakistan once again?” it adds.

It also calls on Pakistanis to support Al-Qaeda.

Rashid said Musharraf’s decision to join the international war against terrorism had the backing of the entire nation.

“The resolve of the people of Pakistan to fight terrorism is very strong,” he said.

The statement came as a military operation to capture Al-Qaeda linked militants and their local supporters believed to be holed up in two mud-built fortresses in a tribal area near the Afghan border dragged into its 11th day.

At least 54 soldiers have been killed in the operation sparked on March 16 when troops came under heavy attack prompting speculation that they were protecting a “high-value target”, possibly Zawahiri.

Officials later backed away from the suggestion saying instead that the militants were more likely to be protecting an Uzbek or Chechen militant leader who may have escaped.

Troops are still searching homes and buildings within a 60-kilometer (37-mile) circumference cordon that includes the two villages where the militants are believed to be surrounded by troops.

In what is turning out to be the army’s most disastrous operation in its two-year Al-Qaeda hunt, the official revealed that a total of 37 army and paramilitary troops have been killed in battle since the operation began on March 16.

That figure includes 16 troops killed on the first day when they were surprised by scores of heavily armed fighters, apparently protecting an unidentified foreigner who was escaping in a bullet-proof landcruiser.