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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: michael97123 who wrote (35374)	3/18/2004 3:49:57 PM
From: Brian Sullivan	Respond to of 793592

Pakistan Calls Report Zawahiri Cornered `Speculative' quote.bloomberg.com March 18 (Bloomberg) -- The Pakistani military said it couldn't confirm or deny reports that Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's top aide in the al-Qaeda terrorist network, is surrounded by Pakistani soldiers in the country's remote, mountainous border region with Afghanistan. The reports are ``speculative,'' General Shaukat Sultan, the military's spokesman, said in an interview in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. ``I can't confirm or deny the report because the fighting is still going on,'' he said. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said in a Cable News Network interview that a ``high-value target'' was surrounded in the South Waziristan region of north-central Pakistan and that the hundreds of soldiers in the area were experiencing ``fierce resistance.'' The fighters are ``dug in'' in mud forts in a 25- kilometer (15-mile) square area, he said. CNN, citing two unidentified Pakistani officials, later said Zawahiri is guarded by 200 ``well-trained, well-armed'' fighters. Sultan said ``helicopters, heavy machine guns and mortars,'' were being used in the operation, which would continue until its ``logical end.'' Pakistani commanders are planning an air assault against the fighters tomorrow, CNN reported, citing unidentified Pakistani intelligence and Interior Ministry officials. The Pakistanis are concerned the militants may escape during the night. Intelligence shows Zawahiri, 52, is cornered in South Waziristan, three top Pakistani officials told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon, has fought alongside bin Laden for years, and both men have been on the run since the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that overthrew the Taliban regime that sheltered al-Qaeda.