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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CYBERKEN who wrote (619117)	9/7/2004 9:31:34 AM
From: puborectalis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Pakistan: U.S. Official's Osama Claim Was 'Political' ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan Tuesday dismissed a claim by a U.S. counter-terrorism official that the United States and its allies were closing in on the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden (news - web sites). Pakistani media Sunday quoted Cofer Black, State Department coordinator for counter-terrorism, as saying that the United States and its allies have put the al Qaeda leader on the defensive, increasing chances of his capture soon. But Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Black's remarks were a "political statement." "We don't have any information about that," Ahmed told Reuters by telephone from Saudi Arabia where he is accompanying Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on an official visit. Black's comments came just a few days after President Bush (news - web sites), who is standing for re-election in November, said that three-quarters of known al Qaeda leaders have been captured or killed. "If he (bin Laden) has a watch, he should be looking at it because the clock is ticking. He will be caught," Black told private Geo Television. "Programs are in place and what I tell people (is), I would be surprised but not necessarily shocked if we wake up tomorrow and he had been caught along with all his lieutenants." Pakistan -- a key ally of the United States since al Qaeda's attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 -- has made a series of breakthroughs against al Qaeda since July. More than 70 suspected militants, including senior al Qaeda operatives, have been arrested, raising hopes that security forces are zeroing in on bin Laden or his deputy al-Zawahri. Pakistani officials play down such hopes, saying the pair's whereabouts is still a mystery, although it is often said they are probably holed up in the mountainous region on the Pakistan-Afghanistan (news - web sites) border.