'Musharraf forced to scale back pursuit of Qaeda'

SILICON VALLEY: Political turmoil and a spate of brazen attacks by Taliban fighters are forcing Pakistan President Musharraf to scale back his government's pursuit of al-Qaeda, US intelligence officials have said.

The development threatens a pillar of US counter-terrorism strategy, which has depended on Pakistan to play a lead role in keeping al-Qaeda under pressure to reduce its ability to coordinate strikes, the Los Angeles Times reported quoting the officials.

President Pervez Musharraf, facing an election next month amid confronting calls to yield power after years of autocratic rule, appears too vulnerable to pursue counter-terrorism operations for America, the officials said.

At the same time, the Pakistani military has suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks at the hands of militants in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures are believed to be hiding, the paper said in a report from Washington.

The officials told the LA Times the conditions that have allowed al-Qaeda to regain strength are likely to persist and they are fearful that the terrorist network will be able to accelerate its efforts to rebuild and plot new attacks.

"We are worried," the paper quoted a senior US counter-terrorism official who closely monitors Pakistan's pursuit of al-Qaeda in the rugged frontier region.

If Musharraf is removed from office or agrees to a power-sharing arrangement with political foes, the "change in government could well mean a diminution of cooperation on counter-terrorism", the official said.

Another senior US intelligence official said Pakistani retrenchment appears to have begun. "We're already beginning to see some signs of that," the official said, citing a recent series of reversals by the Pakistan military.

"In the next few days, we're probably going to see a withdrawal of forces that the Pakistanis put there," the official told the LA Times, adding that the move could solidify a "safe haven, where the al-Qaeda leadership is secure, operational planners can do their business, and foreigners can come in and be trained and redeploy to the West".

Musharraf's commitment to root out Qaeda elements and the Taliban has been questioned in the past as well. Last fall, he scaled back military operations in Waziristan in return for a pledge by the tribal leaders to rein in foreign fighters.

Instead, the officials said, the deal took pressure off al-Qaeda at a critical time, enabling it to regroup and re-establish ties with terrorist affiliates in other parts of the world.

The paper said that the recent political upheaval in Pakistan, starting with a failed attempt to oust the country's chief justice, had triggered new concern in the US intelligence community.

Officials fear that a six-year effort by the United States and Pakistan to root out Qaeda, which has had limited success, could further falter, the paper said.