Wadah Khanfar, al-Jazeera's director general, has travelled to London. He wants to see the memo that claims U.S. President George W. Bush raised the possibility of bombing the Doha, Qatar headquarters of the Arab satellite TV news network during an April 2004 meeting with British PM Tony Blair.

Some excerpts from the BBC story:

A spokesman for al-Jazeera told the BBC News website that the channel only wanted the record set straight.

Downing Street said: "We are quite happy to talk to al-Jazeera as we are to other broadcasters."

'Outlandish'

The Italian La Stampa newspaper has reported that Mr Khanfar had "demanded an urgent meeting" with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mr Khanfar told La Stampa: "We want to know whether Bush really did want to attack al-Jazeera last year and was dissuaded from doing so by the British prime minister, as the British press has claimed.

"We will be silent only when we get the truth." ...

Mr Khanfar, who is planning to spend "a few days" in the country, is due to take part in a debate with Daily Mirror journalist Kevin Maguire, who first published details of the memo.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says this latest row follows a history of tension and mutual suspicion between al-Jazeera and the US administration.

Many of al-Jazeera's employees have long been privately convinced that their offices in Kabul and Baghdad were deliberately targeted by the Pentagon in 2001 and 2003 respectively.

US officials have accused al-Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for al-Qaeda and of being openly hostile to the US.