Pakistan denies coup rumours while Musharraf away:

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan on Sunday denied rumours of a coup attempt against President Pervez Musharraf while he is visiting the United States.
Newspaper offices and journalists were inundated with telephone calls and text messages inquiring about the rumours, which coincided with a widespread power cut.

But television programmes did not allude to them until Geo Television ran a ticker headline saying Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani had accused "rumor mongers" of exploiting the power cut.

Reuters made checks with senior government as well as military officials, and journalists saw nothing unusual in the capital or the neighboring garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Durrani, who is traveling with Musharraf, told Reuters from New York: "These rumours were sparked by the power breakdown. These are baseless. These rumours spread because televisions were off and telephones were on."

A military official who declined to be named added: "It's totally rubbish."

Last week Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted as Thai prime minister while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York -- which Musharraf also attended.

MEDICAL CHECK

Durrani also said Musharraf had had a routine medical check-up in Texas with a Pakistani-American doctor.

"He is absolutely all right," he said.

Musharraf, who came to power in a bloodless military coup seven years ago and has controversially held onto his role as chief of army staff, is due to launch his autobiography, entitled "In the Line of Fire," in New York on Monday.

He also has a second meeting with President George W. Bush, along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and is due back in Pakistan by the end of the week. Continued ...

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