NEW YORK - At the heals of some of President Asif Ali Zardari's statements that raised eyebrows during his recent U.S. visit, a leading American newspaper has questioned his claim that Oliver North, who is best known for his involvement in the 1986 Iran-Contra scandal, that North installed a security system for his home "because he was 'scared of Osama bin Laden.'" "The president of Pakistan apparently believes an Internet hoax alleging that Oliver L. North warned of the dangers posed by Osama bin Laden 20 years ago," The New York Times said in a dispatch on Wednesday,, referring to his interview with FOX News. That rumour involving North, who worked for the National security Council under President Ronald Reagan, emerged on the Internet shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "It has been thoroughly debunked by a number of reliable sources, including the United States Senate's Web site and Mr. North himself," the newspaper said. Nonetheless, The Times said, the hoax continues to be perpetuated through a widely e-mailed document that claims to be a transcript of Mr. North's testimony during the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987. "In the forgery, Mr. North is quoted as saying that Mr. bin Laden is a grave threat to the United States. But in his actual testimony, Mr. North never mentioned Mr. bin Laden and referred only to the terrorist Abu Nidal. In November 2001, after receiving copies of the e-mail hoax, Mr. North wrote a response that said the claims were 'simply inaccurate'." "Though I would like to claim the gift of prophesy, I don't have it," he wrote. A reference page on the United States Senate Web site also explains that the e-mail hoax is not true, stating, "Col. North testified the security system was installed because threats were made on his life by terrorist Abu Nidal." The Times said, "Mr. Zardari's repetition of the hoax came during a conversation about terrorist threats with the Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren. In the interview, which was recorded Saturday in New York, Mr. Zardari said that his wife, Benazir Bhutto, a former Pakistani prime minister who was assassinated last year, called the first President Bush in 1988 to complain about Mr. bin Laden, who had reportedly bankrolled a no-confidence vote against Ms. Bhutto. "According to Mr. Zardari, the phone call occurred on a secure line at the American Embassy. He said Ms. Bhutto "complained that, why is an operator who is supposed to be an American destabilizing my government?" Bush "hadn't even heard of the name Osama bin Laden," Zardari added, before repeating the claim about Mr. North's testimony.                      FARAHNAZ EXPLAINS Farahnaz Ispahani, a spokeswoman for Pakistan Peoples Party, responded to a query from The New York Times about Zardari's statements in an e-mail message. "The point President Zardari sought to make was more about how the U.S. ignored the threat posed by Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and less about the Oliver North comment or hoax," she was quoted as saying. "As President Zardari has said elsewhere bin Laden funded opponents of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1989. Her complaints about bin Laden to American officials drew the response that they did not know much about him or his movement, which at that time operated under the name of Services Bureau."