Pakistan Rejects U.S. Accusations That It Harbors Al-Qaeda
January 12, 2007
January 12, 2007 -- Pakistan has rejected U.S. accusations that it harbors Al-Qaeda leaders, saying that the United States has not given Pakistan any such information.
The comments, by Pakistani military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan, came a day after the outgoing head of U.S. intelligence operations said that Pakistan, while a key U.S. ally, was also a refuge for top terrorist leaders.
John Negroponte, who is expected to become a deputy to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said that Al-Qaeda leaders were rebuilding their network from a secure hideout in Pakistan.
Meanwhile today, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher met with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad to address security concerns in the region.
The visit was also seen as a bid to calm tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, raised by Islamabad's plans to fence and mine parts of the two countries' border.
(Reuters, AFP)