Military experts have expressed concerns about the U.K. and U.S. alliance with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism, suggesting that it could be blinding London and Washington to the increasing instability in the country.

Meanwhile human rights groups and Musharraf opponents have warned against propping up the military dictator, drawing parallels with the U.S. and British support of Saddam Hussein in his early years.

The leaked report says the Pakistani intelligence service ISI indirectly backs terrorism by supporting fundamentalist religious groups in the country.

Musharraf rejected the allegations in an interview with the BBC, which obtained the paper, insisting his intelligence services were doing "an excellent job" in rooting out militants.

He said that he was "fully satisfied" with Pakistan's efforts in the struggle against terrorism, in which the country's authorities had made some 680 arrests.

"There is perfect coordination going on -- intelligence and operational coordination at the strategic level, at the tactical level," he said.

He also rejected the report's suggestion that the ISI should be dismantled.

"I totally, 200 percent reject it. I reject it from anybody -- Ministry of Defense or anyone who tells me to dismantle ISI.

"ISI is a disciplined force, breaking the back of al-Qaida. Getting 680 people would not have been possible if our ISI was not doing an excellent job."

Speaking ahead of a Washington meeting Wednesday night with President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Musharraf also rejected the Afghan leader's claims that Pakistan was not doing enough to combat extremism in its border region. Karzai was someone who "can't even get out of his office," he said.

However his denials are unlikely to forestall intense interest by media in the United States, where he has already set himself at odds with the Bush administration by claiming that following the Sept. 11 attacks, then U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the Stone Age" if it did not cooperate in the "war on terror."

Along with a further claim that the CIA has been paying Pakistan to hand over terror suspects, the allegations will have made for an uncomfortable meeting between the three leaders.

While the Ministry of Defense has insisted the paper -- understood to have been written by a man with a military background who is linked to the U.K. Secret Intelligence Service -- is for research purposes only and does not represent the views of the government, it does chime with recent warnings by other intelligence analysts.

Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup in 1999, is a secular military autocratic ruler whose cooperation with the United States is unpopular with his increasingly anti-American and Islamist constituency. Presidential elections scheduled for 2007 could well see challenges from Islamist candidates, while any attempt by Musharraf to ban other candidates, as he did in the 2002 presidential referendum, could prompt a violent reaction.

In this context, Musharraf's recent allegations against the United States can be seen as an indication of the increasing insecurity of his position. Politically, the Islamist movement is stronger than ever: An alliance of Islamist religious parties gained strong representation in the National Assembly elections in 2002 for the first time in Pakistan's history, and won control of two of the country's four provincial assemblies.

Musharraf's anti-terror efforts have failed to significantly weaken militant groups operating within the country, which are believed to have played a substantial role in the July 7 London bombings and the recent alleged plot to blow up airliners en route from Britain to the United States. Both plots are alleged to have been formulated by British Pakistanis either during or following visits to terrorist training camps in the country, with Pakistan-based militants having provided training and advice if not material help.

Meanwhile, Afghan officials have increasingly criticized Pakistan for failing to do enough to stem the flow of militants sympathetic to al-Qaida and the Taliban across the border into Afghanistan. Pakistan has vehemently rejected the accusations; however, recent developments have indicated that home-grown fighters, known as the Pakistani Taliban, now control substantial areas of the border regions of North and South Waziristan.

Speaking to United Press International following the emergence of the alleged airliner plot in August, former government intelligence analyst Crispin Black described the situation in Pakistan as deeply troubling.

There were serious doubts as to the stability of Musharraf's government, while there were also fears that the country's nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists, he said.

Black, who until 2002 advised Downing Street on the terror threat, said it would be impossible to intervene in Pakistan, meaning "we simply had to keep our fingers crossed."

"It's a very, very worrying place and I think it's going to become more worrying," he concluded.

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