Osama in Pak: US spy chief](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/The_United_States/Osama_in_Pak_US_spy_chief/articleshow/2225379.cms)
WASHINGTON: Al Qaida founder Osama bin Laden is alive and sheltering in lawless parts of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, US intelligence chief Mike McConnell said on Sunday.
McConnell blamed the Pakistani government of president Pervez Musharraf for allowing Al Qaida to regroup through a controversial peace pact last year with tribal leaders in the border areas. But Musharraf remains a key ally, he said. “My personal view is that he’s alive,” the director of national intelligence said on NBC television when asked about bin Laden. “I believe he is in the tribal region of Pakistan.”
McConnell said that had been possible owing to a September peace accord between the Pakistani government and pro-Taliban tribal leaders in the ill-governed region bordering Afghanistan. “Instead of pushing Al Qaida out, they made a safe haven for training and recruiting. Al Qaida’s been able to regain some of its momentum,” the US spymaster said.
Pakistan hits out at U.S. critics of terrorism stance](http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-28600120070722)
By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan hit back on Sunday at U.S. critics of its fight against terrorism, insisting its army was best suited to hunt for Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda militants Washington believes enjoy safe haven in Pakistani tribal areas near Afghanistan.
Appearing on CNN’s “Late Edition,” an angry Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri criticized talk of U.S. forces attacking al Qaeda on Pakistani territory, warning that any incursion would alienate opinion in the predominantly Muslim U.S. ally against terrorism.
“We are committed to controlling terrorism, and people in Pakistan get very upset when despite all the sacrifices that Pakistan has been making you get all these criticisms” in the press, he said in an interview from Lahore, Pakistan.
"What I don't like is the tone that I am now hearing and that I am now reading in the American media," said Kasuri.
Part of the National Intelligence Estimate made public last week found a “persistent and evolving” threat to the United States from Islamic militant groups, especially al Qaeda, which it said has become entrenched in Pakistan’s North Waziristan, a tribal region near Afghanistan.
President George W. Bush, in his taped weekly radio address on Saturday, said the report’s assessment that al Qaeda was gaining strength in the tribal region of Pakistan was “one of the most troubling.”
Washington has been pressing Pakistan to do more against al Qaeda in the border area and has not ruled out U.S. strikes.
LOSING HEARTS AND MINDS
Kasuri told CNN talk of an al Qaeda "safe haven" in their country angered the Pakistanis, who have had 700 soldiers killed fighting militants in tribal areas.
"What we need is actionable intelligence" to tackle al Qaeda, he said, and reiterated his government's view that talk of U.S. strikes inside Pakistan was "irresponsible."
Bush security aide Fran Townsend told "Fox News Sunday" that Washington was "first and foremost" working with Pakistan and its embattled president, army general Pervez Musharraf. She said Washington was sharing intelligence with Islamabad.
However, asked whether the U.S. was doing everything it could to go after al Qaeda in Pakistan, she said: "Just because we don't speak about things publicly, doesn't mean we aren't doing many of the things you are talking about."
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, a staunch critic of Bush's war in Iraq, said: "I don't think we should take anything off the table."
"Wherever we find these evil people, we should go get them," the Nevada Democrat told CBS' "Face the Nation."
Kasuri said U.S. raids into Pakistan would be a mistake.
"When you talk of going after targets, you will lose the battle for hearts and minds," he said
"The Pakistan Army can do the job much better," he said.
Pakistan's military said on Sunday that security forces killed six pro-Taliban militants in fighting in North Waziristan, after overnight battles left 13 rebels dead.
The United States, after being hit by al Qaeda's attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, led an invasion of Afghanistan later that year to oust the Taliban religious movement that had seized power and to root out bin Laden and his followers.
Bush administration officials stress that they support Musharraf, who is struggling with a violent campaign by Islamic militants and a political crisis following Pakistan's Supreme Court reinstatement of the chief justice after Musharraf sought to remove him.
(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Patricia Zengerle)
Sounds exactly like the war drums beat before the Iraq War. Media frenzy, one sided views and whack. I dont like the sound of this. US best stay out. If it attacks inside Pakistan, it’ll alienate even the liberal forces in the country.
