Pakistani forces have moved into targeted areas of the country’s long border with Afghanistan, after satellite telephone intercepts indicated that some members of al-Qaida were hiding there, security officials told The Associated Press on Friday. Though officials insist there was no indication that Osama bin Laden was involved in the conversations, which took place last year, participants discussed a man called "Shaikh" — which is believed to be a code name for the al-Qaida leader. The operation was based in part on information gleaned from satellite telephone intercepts from the United States and local intelligence data, the security officials said on condition of anonymity. "Some people who were speaking in Arabic have been heard saying Shaikh is in good health," one security official told the AP. ....
American counterterrorism experts were meeting with their counterparts in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad to discuss combatting terrorism, said Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Rauf Chaudhry. The delegation will visit Pakistan for two days.... The Wana operation ended earlier this week with the arrest of 25 suspects .... Some of the suspects arrested were foreigners, though most appeared to be local tribesmen who live in a region that is home to inhabitants linked by language and culture to Afghan Pashtuns .... Though the troops have been in the tribal regions for more than two years, the security officials say they are being adjusted to suit fresh intelligence data. .... "We are not close to capturing Osama, but all efforts and operations are directed at finding clues about his whereabouts," a senior government official told AP. .... Pakistan has so far confirmed only the operation near Wana, but officials told AP they are also "quietly operating" in other "marked areas." .... Pakistan has launched four operations in the tribal areas since the Sept. 11 attacks. But Pakistani security officials say that earlier operations lacked the support of the local population. |