Has Osama bin Laden bin codin' XP?

Microsoft today utterly dismissed reports it had been infiltrated by members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network who used their position to plant bugs, trojans and trap-doors in Windows XP.

A spokeswoman for the software giant said "the claim is just too bizarre for words. We have extensive safeguards in place to ensure the security and integrity of our products - this could never have happened".

She said Microsoft was not investigating the claims.

The reports surfaced after terrorist suspect Mohammad Afroze Abdul Razzak, arrested by Indian police in Bombay, apparently made the claims under interrogation.

Many of Afroze's claims - including that he was part of a plot to hijack and crash planes in the UK - have been dismissed by intelligence sources, according to a report in the Guardian.

However, according to US wires, the suspect did manage to predict the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament building which killed seven people last Thursday.