Al-Badr Mujahideen, which is waging a guerrilla war against Indian rule of disputed Kashmir, said in a faxed statement that no one from its organisation had met Bin Laden, who is ``hiding in'' Aghanistan. ``No one from any cadre of Al-Badr has contacted Osama Bin Laden nor was a press release about such a meeting issued from our office,'' the statement said.The denial was faxed to news organisations on exactly the same headed notepaper and with the same contact telephone numbers as the original statement. ``We are startled that whoever issued this press release has used our letterhead,'' the spokesman told Reuters. Both statements were issued amid a US security alert on the anniversary of the US East Africa embassy bombings which Bin Laden has been accused.

Speculation that the US will mount a repeat attack on suspected Bin Ladenhideouts, after an August 20 cruise missile strike last year, has become a rallying point for Al-Badr and similar militant groups. Saturday's statement said the Al-Badr Commander-in-Chief Naseer Ahmad Mujahid met Bin Laden at Darunta, northwest of Afghanistan's main eastern town of Jalalabad, and vowed to fight to protect him against any US attack.