ISLAMABAD, Pakistan?Pakistan?s president said Monday he believes the United States will launch a military strike against Afghanistan, after the Taliban’s supreme leader told the Afghan people that ?Americans don?t have the courage to come here.?

Asked by the British Broadcasting Corp. if the Taliban?s days are numbered, the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, replied: ?It appears so.?

?It appears that the United States will take action in Afghanistan, and we have conveyed this to the Taliban,? Musharraf told the BBC, referring to the Islamic militia that rules most of Afghanistan and refuses to hand over Osama bin Laden.

He added that Pakistan had tried its best to head off a confrontation over bin Laden and the Saudi exile?s lieutenants.