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

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (45609)	2/24/2004 5:52:55 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Pak-Army launch operation against Al-Qaeda suspects (Updated at 1100 PST) ISLAMABAD: Pakistani forces Tuesday morning launched an operation against the suspected hideout of Taliban and Al-Qaeda fugitives in the remote northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said, Geo news channel reported. 'Our forces have just started an operation,' to flush out foreign suspected terrorists, information minister Sheikh Rashid said.

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (45609)	2/28/2004 5:58:39 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Anti-Osama operation expanded Forces move into more targeted areas in tribal region after intercepting telephonic conversation ISLAMABAD: Security forces moved into targeted areas along the border with Afghanistan, after satellite telephone intercepts indicated that some al-Qaeda members were hiding there, officials told The Associated Press on Friday. Though the officials insist there was no indication that Osama bin Laden was involved in the conversations, last year, wherein the participants discussed a man called "Shaikh", which is believed to be a code name for the al-Qaeda 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," a security official told the AP. It was not immediately clear when the US shared its data with Pakistan. US, Pakistani and Afghan officials have long suspected that Osama has been hiding in the border region. There has been no confirmation or any hard evidence of his whereabouts in more than two years. The border operations came even before a sweep in Wana in which some 25 suspects were arrested, most of them appeared to be local tribesmen. 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. It was not immediately clear precisely, where the forces were placed or how many were involved. "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. "It is a tiring and long process." The officials told AP they the security forces were also "quietly operating" in other "marked areas." Osama remains the ultimate target. "We are after him, because his capture will help eliminate terror threat in the region," one official told AP. Analysts doubt the existence of specific intelligence pinpointing the whereabouts of Osama. The 2,450-km Pak-Afghan border is an ideal place to hide, running through sparsely populated mountains and deserts, where many local Pushtun tribesmen are sympathetic to Osama and fiercely protective of fugitives. "My gut feeling is that still there is no definite clue and I think that we will have to wait," said journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai. Yet Pakistan has beefed up its military presence in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) along the frontier and the 10,600-strong US-led force in Afghanistan has promised a major spring offensive to hunt militants. "A focus of political will and resources will clearly increase the chances of high quality targets being hit," said Jason Burke, a leading expert and author on al-Qaeda. "The problem is that the practical difficulties operating there remain, as do the obstacles posed by massive local support for the fugitives." Exactly what the Wana operation yielded is shrouded in mystery. Officials would not say a word on reports that al-Zawahri’s son, Khaled, was among the people detained and handed over to US custody in recent days. He could provide vital clues to his father’s whereabouts, and, therefore, Osama’s. "I think al-Zawahri will be together with Osama as they have always been," Yusufzai said. "Having met him (Osama) twice and talked at length to al-Zawahri, I don’t think they would surrender or be captured alive," said Yusufzai. And even if bin Laden was caught or killed, the "war on terror" would not be over, a US official in Kabul said. "In terms of broad Islamic militancy, it doesn’t matter that much." US officials say splinter groups and other extremist outfits also exist to wage attacks on American and other Western targets.