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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Narotham Reddy who wrote (42072)	1/9/2002 1:01:00 AM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

US military to pursue bin Laden in Pakistan By Richard Wolffe in Washington, Mark Nicholson in Kabul and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad Published: January 8 2002 20:13 \| Last Updated: January 9 2002 05:47 US troops are set to pursue enemy leaders into Pakistan as fears grow that Osama bin Laden and some of his key lieutenants have escaped over the border from Afghanistan. General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces in the region, said Pakistan had agreed that US troops could cross the border to work with its forces attempting to follow al-Qaeda terrorists and Taliban fighters. "We could contact [Pakistan] and say: 'We are observing people and we are going to follow them into Pakistan'," he said in an interview with Associated Press. Pakistan's agreement represents a substantial concession by the country's military forces, which have maintained extensive patrols of the 1,500-mile frontier. The preparations for expanded US military activity inside Pakistan also reflect a growing concern over intelligence reports that Mr bin Laden escaped across the border after intense air strikes against al-Qaeda caves in the Tora Bora region last month. The agreement underlines how the search for Mr bin Laden - as well as Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban's leader - remains the priority of US forces. General Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said on Tuesday that the US would not "operate unilaterally inside Pakistan". He added: "If we thought Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan I think we could rely on the Pakistani government and their forces to participate, and our role would probably be a liaison role." Pentagon officials said on Monday they were shifting their focus from the manhunt for enemy leaders towards crushing pockets of resistance fighters in Afghanistan. The Pentagon said it would stop speculating on the whereabouts of Mr bin Laden and Mullah Omar after their escape in the last month. In Islamabad, Pakistani officials and western diplomats said the government of General Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler, had decided to allow US troops to enter because in the past few weeks Pakistan has been worried over claims that the two men had entered the country. The agreement allows Pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to closing down all the passes along its border. "Now, policing is a joint responsibility of our troops and American troops," said a senior official last night. "It's much harder for anyone to say that Osama or Mullah Omar slipped over our border unnoticed." Pakistan warned last week that if its Kashmir dispute with India escalated, some of its troops would be withdrawn leaving gaps through which fighters cou ld flee Afghanistan. US forces on Tuesday launched air strikes for a fourth day on an al-Qaeda camp in eastern Afghanistan. Zalmay Khalilzad, the recently-arrived US envoy to Afghanistan, said in Kabul that the US was still receiving reports of Taliban and al-Qaeda "activity" and bombing would continue. news.ft.com