ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A band of hard-core Taliban fighters sent a wreath to the funeral of President Ronald Reagan, according to a Pakistan newspaper.

Speaking from an undisclosed location near the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the leader of the fugitive Taliban band, Jihad al-Masri stated: "Yes, of course, Reagan was an infidel dog, and the gates of paradise will be closed to him for ever. But you must remember that he give us mujahideen in Afghanistan our first big chance after the Russians came. I still weep to recall the first Stinger missiles we received and the polite young man from America who taught my brothers and me how to shoot down aircraft with one. Mr Reagan was very, very generous. Lots of money, lots of quality firepower. Some we used against the infidel Russian communists, some we stored for the next holy war."

Asked if he had any regrets about his dealings with President Reagan, al-Masri recalled a visit with fellow Afghan mujahideen to Washington DC. "Mr Reagan's people were very nice, very hospitable. He called us freedom-fighters, like the French infidel resistance to the Germans in the war in Europe. But he was even nicer to Comandante Violador from the Nicaraguan Contras. Violador got his photo taken in the Oval Office and Mr Reagan said he was like Thomas Jefferson. And Violador was a drug trafficker. We only went into drugs after the CIA money was cut."

Despite this comparative snub, al-Masri said that Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan still owed a big debt to the late President.