The Arab TV channel, Al Jazeera, has rejected accusations by Donald Rumsfeld that it was encouraging Islamic militants by airing beheadings of foreign hostages in Iraq.
The channel voiced 'deep regret and surprise' at the US Defence Secretary's remarks.
In a statement, Al Jazeera said it 'has never at any time transmitted pictures of killings or beheadings'.
The station, repeatedly accused by Washington of biased reporting on Iraq, has often shown video of hostages pleading at gunpoint for their government to withdraw its troops.
But it does not broadcast footage of killings, posted on the Internet by militants.
Mr Rumsfeld said 'if anyone lived in the Middle East and watched a network like the Al Jazeera day after day after day, he would start waking up and asking what's wrong. But America is not wrong'.
Al Jazeera's offices in Baghdad and in the Afghan capital, Kabul, have been hit by US fire but Washington said the bombings were accidental and had not targeted the network.
Al Jazeera, based in Qatar, won millions of Arab viewers before and during the US-led war against Afghanistan, and aired exclusive footage of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden following the 2001 attacks on the United States.
The channel has angered some Arab governments as well as Washington with its coverage of the war in Iraq, Islamic militancy and interviews with Arab dissidents.
Al Jazeera is forbidden to report from Saudi Arabia, and US-backed authorities closed its office in Iraq, accusing it of supporting insurgents.
The station, which has interviewed Iraqi government and US officials on Iraq, denies it is helping the militants' cause.
