Top US military commander terms Pak tribal belt global headquarters of al-Qaeda

Describing Pakistan's lawless tribal belt near Afghanistan as the "global headquarters" of al-Qaeda, top American military commander Mike Mullen has said the US believed that the terror network's chief Osama bin Laden and his deputy Aiman al-Zawahiri are in this country.

The presence of these terrorist leaders in the region is a reason why "a principal part of the overall Af-Pak strategy is focussed on elimination of safe havens" for them, Mullen told reporters here last night.

His comments came days after US secretary of state Hillary Clinton ruffled feathers in Islamabad by making a similar statement.

During her recent visit here, Clinton had also said that bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda leaders are in Pakistan, an assertion dismissed by foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as "speculation".

Responding to questions, Mullen, who is on his 19th visit to Pakistan, said al-Qaeda leaders are hiding in a "very secure place" and it is difficult to trace them. He said Pakistan's tribal belt is the "global headquarters" for the al-Qaeda terror network.

Mullen praised Pakistan for moving against militants but said that there is still a need to take action against the Haqqani network of Taliban, which has been disturbing peace inside Afghanistan by its activities from Pakistan.

He described the Haqqani group as "the most lethal network" faced by US-led forces in Afghanistan and said he had repeatedly urged Pakistan to tackle this threat. Pakistani forces are aware of the threat posed by the Haqqani group, he said.

"The Haqqani network is strongly engaged and involved in insurgencies in Afghanistan and there is a need to take a much stronger position against it," said Mullen.

The US and Pakistan are strong allies in the war against terror and America will continue providing help and cooperation to Pakistan in this war, he said. "The Pakistan government has made critical decisions to achieve success in the war against terrorism."

Mullen acknowledged that there had been an improvement in the trust between Pakistan and US intelligence agencies but indicated that more could be done in this field.

He appreciated the role played by the Pakistan army and ISI in capturing terrorists.

Mullen also denied that the US had played any role in influencing Pakistan government to give a 3-year extension to army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, saying: "Pakistan is a sovereign country and it is an internal issue of Pakistan."

He also said there are "no secret American troops" in Pakistan. All US troops in the country were there at Pakistan's request for training purposes.

US-led forces in Afghanistan recently said they had detected an influx of LeT operatives in Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan's Khyber tribal region, and arrested several persons associated with the move to send Pakistani militants to fight alongside the Afghan Taliban.

Asked about the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, Mullen said such a move would not mark the end of the mission but the start of a process whereby the US military will stay in Afghanistan till complete peace is restored.

Answering a question about the reconciliation process in Afghanistan, he said the US leadership is fully supporting the move led by Afghan president Hamid Karzai as both sides have a significant stake in this process.

However, he cautioned that the time is not right for reconciliation with warring groups.

"Reconciliation can only be successful from a position of strength. In my perspective, we are not in that position of strength. We need to be in a very strong position for that to be meaningful but we are not there," he said.

Replying to another question, Mullen said the US has its own system of tracking the movement of terrorists across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and information in this regard "does not come from the Indians".

Mullen last evening met Gen Tariq Majid, the chairman of Pakistan's joint chiefs of staff committee, as part of the "regular bilateral consultations" between the two countries, said a statement issued by the US embassy.

A separate statement issued by the Pakistani military said Mullen and Majid discussed "international security developments, outcome of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, (recent) Kabul conference (on Afghanistan's future) and its effects on the region, India-Pakistan confidence building, progress on efforts by Pakistan against terrorism and violent extremism and other matters of bilateral interest."

The statement did not give further details.