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Iraq

Iraq tightens security at Syria border to stop arms flow

2012-02-19

BAGHDAD: Iraq said on Saturday it had reinforced security along its Syrian border to prevent arms smuggling, after reports fighters and weapons were crossing into Syria where President Bashar Assad has been facing an increasingly armed revolt. The Shiite-led Iraqi government is worried the unrest in Syria, now nearly a year old, could spill across the porous 600 km (373 mile) frontier and upset its own fragile sectarian balance. Iraq's Shiites fear a toppling of Assad, himself from a minority Shiite sect, No, he's an Alawite: a semi-Muslim sect... A Shiite heresy, but who's counting? could bring hard-line Sunnis to power, a shift which could threaten Iraqi Shiites' newly-acquired dominance since the 2003 US-led invasion. A reasonable concern, as it turns out... James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which has hard-line Sunni Islamist convictions, may have been behind bombings in Damascus and Syria's second city, Aleppo. Sowing and reaping, that. Also known as "Consequences are a bitch." The allegation came as Iraqi officials and arms dealers reported an influx of weapons and Sunni Muslim insurgents into Syria. All the bad boys leaving Iraq and going home via Syria? The same road they came in in, only going backwards. Al Qaeda's leader Ayman al Zawahri has backed the revolt against Assad, in which more than 5,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations. "Necessary measures have been taken to consolidate control over the borders with Syria which is witnessing turbulence that encourages infiltration and all kinds of smuggling, especially arms," a statement from Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's office. The statement -- which came after Maliki met top security officials, including the acting defense minister, the national security adviser and commander of border forces -- did not explicitly state what measures had been taken. Relations between Syria and Iraq's US-backed government nosedived when Baghdad blamed Damascus for not doing enough to stem the flow of foreign fighters entering Iraq across the two countries' border during the height of sectarian violence in 2006-07. Zawahri, whose group has been struggling to regain its foothold since the killing of former leader Osama Bin Laden, has urged Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan to join Syrian rebels.

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Africa North

Israeli embassy break-in led by Jam'a al-Islamiya

2011-09-11

Debka. This one seems a bit excitable, so I would suggest a hefty pinch of salt and confirmation from other sources. In first new disclosures on the storming of Israel's Cairo embassy which started Friday night, Sept. 9, DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources reveal that the mob was led by the terrorist Jama'a al-Islamiya, the Egyptian founding branch of Al Qaeda, and two other radical Egyptian Islamist groups. The February 1993 car booming of the World Trade Center of New York, which was the forerunner of the Sept. 11, 2001 atrocities, was an early Jama'a operation under the al Qaeda label. Closely linked to the late Osama bin Laden ... who had a brief but splitting headache... 's successor, Ayman al Zawahri, Jama'a al-Islamiya is now running for election in post-Mubarak Egypt. Its mentor is the "blind sheikh" Omar Abdel Rahman, who is serving a life sentence for criminal masterminding the first World Trade Center bombing. Jama'a adherents stormed the Israeli embassy Friday night along with activists of the Moslem Brüderbund and the Egyptian Students April 6 Movement. DEBKAfile's intelligence sources also reveal that Egyptian security forces delayed for eight hours before tackling the mob smashing into the embassy building and rampaging inside -- even after US Ambassador Anne Patterson interceded on behalf of the six Israel security officers barricaded in the embassy's security room as the rabble battered on its steel door. She acted to save their lives on direct orders from President Barack B.O. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Tallyrand ... after Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon and 80 members of staff and families had been collected from their homes and lifted out of Egypt by two Israeli military planes. The Egyptian authorities only tackled the mob when violent groups broke into police headquarters in the upscale Giza district, stripped the gunroom and shared the weapons among themselves before returning to the street. Before that, the local police stood by and watched them sacking and burning the embassy without moving. Scared of the rioters, the Egyptian commandos ordered to rescue the six Israelis under threat of lynch, discarded their uniforms and mingled with the crowd. When they reached the locked room, they were unable to open the steel door. The head of Egyptian unit had to find the Israeli Shin Bet director Yoram Cohen, who was in urgent conference with Israel's national leaders in the situation room, to obtain the code. They then dressed the six Israelis like typical Egyptians and hustled them to safety past a throng of 40,000 howling for Israeli blood. That number seems a bit larger than other reports of the incident... During the embassy attack until early Saturday Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried unsuccessfully to raise Field Marshall Mohammed Tantawi, head of the Supreme Military Council ruling Egypt, on the phone. Tantawi refused to take his calls. Defense Minister Ehud Barak kept open lines to US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... in Washington and Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Murad Muwafi in Cairo. At some point, Panetta was patched through to Muwafi through Jerusalem.

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Terror Networks

'Osama against attacks on civilians'

2011-02-26

[Pak Daily Times] Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has asked his deputy to remind group's members to avoid attacks on civilian targets, the group's No 2 said in a message posted on the Internet on Thursday. "There are certain operations attributed, rightly or falsely, to the mujahideen, in which Mohammedans are attacked in their mosques, market places or gatherings. Me and my brothers in al Qaeda distance ourselves from such operations and condemn them," Ayman al Zawahri said in an audio recording. Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Blinky Omar, bin Laden and others have taken similar stands earlier, Zawahri said, but added that bin Laden wanted this pointed out again. "Sheikh Osama Bin Laden assigned me again to reiterate this matter. Therefore, I urge the mujahideen to consider the rulings of sharia (Islamic law) and the interests of Mohammedans before undertaking any jihad operation," he said. Al Qaeda members should refrain from indiscriminate attacks on "Mohammedan or non-Mohammedans", Zawahri said, without referring to any particular attack. Zawahri said a New Year's Day bombing that killed 23 people at a Coptic Orthodox church in Egypt was caused by church leaders' "transgressions" against Mohammedans, but he denied that al Qaeda had any links to the attack. An al Qaeda-linked group in Iraq has frequently grabbed credit for bombings resulting in civilian deaths. Al Qaeda was behind the September 11, 2001 attacks on US cities, which killed about 3,000 people. The recording could not be independently authenticated but it was posted on radical websites, which are often used by al Qaeda supporters and the speaker sounded like Zawahri.

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Terror Networks

Zawahiri vows dire revenge™ for Aafia Siddiqui

2010-11-05

Al Qaeda's no 2 in a message released on Thursday vowed Dire Revenge™ on the United States over an 86-year jail sentence handed down in September to a Pak woman convicted of attacking Americans. Ayman al Zawahri threatened new attacks to avenge the sentencing and presented it as another reason that Paks should overthrow their government and join the jihad against the US. Aafia Siddiqui was convicted in February of two counts of attempted murder after she snatched an assault rifle while in an Afghan cop shoppe and opened fire on her US interrogators. Her story has sparked fierce passions in Pakistain, where she has become an icon for a population rife with anti-Americanism sentiment. Many across Pakistain's political spectrum believe the US has fabricated charges against her and may have even held her in a secret prison during a five-year period in which she went missing. "O soldiers of Islam! Whoever wants to free Aafia and avenge the assault on Mohammedan women, join the mujahedeen," said al Zawahri in the four-and-a-half minute message released in Arabic, Pashto, Persian and Urdu, a sign al Qaeda is looking to broaden its reach across the Mohammedan world. "We will fight you until the Day of Judgment, or until you stop your crimes. Imprison whomever you want, kill whoever you want, raid whatever you want. The Mohammedan nation is after you," he said addressing the US.

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India-Pakistan

Zawahri criticises Pak flood relief efforts

2010-09-16

Al Qaeda's number two Ayman al Zawahri released an audio recording on Wednesday accusing the Pak government of responding too slowly to severe flooding in the country and calling on Paks to revolt. Zawahri, believed to be hiding in mountains along the Afghan-Pakistain border, spoke in a 44-minute recording which appeared to mark the anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the United States. "The primary concern of the ruling class in the government and army of Pakistain is filling their domestic and foreign bank accounts with dollars, and as far as they are concerned, Pakistain and its people can go to hell," he said. Entitled 'A Victorious Ummah, A Broken Crusade: Nine Years After the Start of the Crusader Campaign', the recording was posted on a snuffy website often used by al Qaeda. Zawahri called on Paks and Turkish Mohammedans to rise up against their governments because of their involvement in Afghanistan. "The Turkish Mohammedan people must confront the behaviour of their government, which is participating in the Mohammedan-killing campaign in Afghanistan," he said. "The same holds true for the government of Pakistain," he said. "The forces of jihad... have emerged victorious and the forces of the Crusader invasion have emerged weakened by their wounds and exhausted by the haemorrhage of human and financial losses," he said. "Nine years after the beginning of the Crusade against Afghanistan and then Iraq, here is the Crusade reeling after being weakened by the blows of your devoted sons, the mujahedeen," Zawahiri said. Last year, al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden released an audio tape marking the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, but no such message has appeared from him so far this year.

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Afghanistan

Afghanistan drawing fresh influx of jihadi fighters

2008-07-19

Afghanistan has been drawing a fresh influx of fighters from Turkey, Central Asia, Chechnya and the Middle East, one more sign that Al Qaeda is regrouping on what is fast becoming the most active front of the war on terror groups. More foreigners are infiltrating Afghanistan because of a recruitment drive by Al Qaeda as well as a burgeoning insurgency that has made movement easier across the border from Pakistan, United States officials and experts said. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen warned about an increase in foreign fighters crossing into Afghanistan from Pakistan, where the government was trying to negotiate with militants. Two US officials told the AP on condition of anonymity that the US was closely monitoring the flow of foreign fighters into both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Militant web sites from Chechnya to Turkey to the Arab world featured recruitment ads as early as 2007, said University of Massachusetts Islamic History Associate Professor Brian Glyn Williams. He has tracked the movement of militants for the US military's Combating Terrorism Centre. He said there were rumours of hardened Arab fighters from Iraq training Afghans in the tactic of suicide bombing. Recruits' source: Turkey also appears to have emerged as a source of recruits. Williams estimated as many as 100 Turks had made their way to Pakistan to join the fight in Afghanistan. "The story of Turkish involvement in trans-national terrorism is one of the best kept stories of the war on terror," said Williams, who noted that Al Qaeda videos posted on YouTube mention Turks engaging in the insurgency. He said, "The local Afghans whom I talked to claim that the Turks and other foreigners are more prone to suicidal assaults than the local Taliban." Dozens of Turkish Islamic militants have trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and taken part in attacks there, said Emin Demirel, an anti-terrorism expert in Turkey. He said images of attacks on mosques or Muslim villages provide propaganda for recruiting young Turkish Muslims. "Nowadays, they are effectively using the Internet to communicate with fellow militants, and police have difficulty in keeping tabs on several of the militant sites," said Demirel. He added, "Turkish courts sometimes locally block access to one particular site, but it is still accessed outside Turkey. These websites eulogise fallen fighters as martyrs in order to recruit radical Muslim youths." A senior official in Turkey's Interior Ministry said it had no information to confirm the claims of an increase in the number of Turks fighting in Afghanistan. Taliban: Al Qaeda has financed the Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and in the resultant chaos, it has been able to steadily recruit, re-establish its public relations wing, plot new attacks and re-establish areas of operation on both sides of the border. Afghan and Western officials say a key route for Al Qaeda recruits is from Central Asia into north-eastern Kunar and Nuristan provinces, where former US intelligence officials suspect Osama Bin Laden is hiding. Both provinces border Pakistan's Bajaur Tribal Area, where the Taliban hold sway and where the US has targeted Al Qaeda's Ayman al Zawahri. The hulking mountains of Kunar and Nuristan soar thousands of feet and are heavily forested, giving militants good cover. Kunar was the location of the war's two deadliest attacks on US soldiers on Sunday, with the killing of the nine Americans, and in June 2005, when militants shot down a helicopter and killed 16 soldiers. Naseer Ahmed al Bahri, Bin Laden's bodybuard until 2000, told the AP in Yemen last year that Al Qaeda had field commanders in countries from Indonesia to Senegal. While Al Qaeda may be sending most of its trainees to Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is probably also creating cells with the mission of attacking Western countries, including the US, warned Erich Marquardt, senior editor with the Combating Terrorism Centre. "I think we have to accept the fact that Al Qaida has not taken its sights off the far enemy, it recognises that it is fighting in multiple theatres and is therefore likely training fighters for different areas of operation," he said.

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India-Pakistan

The U.S. Is Stepping Up Efforts to Capture Adam Gadahn

2008-06-03

The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have already begun airing. Additionally, printed materials including matchbooks, handbills and posters will be distributed throughout the region in the coming weeks in attempts to elicit cooperation from members of the Afghan community. "As the first person charged with treason against the United States since World War II, the capture of Adam Gadahn is a high priority for the Justice Department. This man has advocated the overthrow of the United States government and applauded the murder of United States citizens. He deserves to be prosecuted, and I hope this new campaign will help bring him to justice," said United States Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien. Gadahn, a native of Orange County, was charged with treason in 2006 after he became a leading propagandist for Osama bin Laden, appearing frequently in al Qaeda videos calling for attacks on America. He's believed to report directly to bin Laden's right-hand man, Ayman al Zawahri. Gadahn, a one-time heavy-metal music fanatic, converted to Islam as a teenager. He first surfaced in an al Qaeda video in 2004, using the nom de guerre "Azzam the American." He spoke perfect English and warned, "The streets of America shall run red with blood." In addition to his propaganda role, Gadahn is believed to be helping al Qaeda with English translations and understanding American culture and vulnerabilities.

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Terror Networks

US Al Q Leader:U.S. Embassies a Prime Target

2007-08-06

First it's Fatah and Hamas. Now this. I'm so conflicted. American al Qaeda leader Adam Gadahn says al Qaeda will continue to target the United States at home and overseas, singling out U.S. embassies as a target, in a new Internet video released by as Sahab, the propaganda wing of al Qaeda. The propaganda wing? What are they doing? Setting this guy up as the next Gerry Addams? The video, which runs more than an hour long, Jerk majored in rhetoric at the University of Havana? Surprised he could graduate in less than 8 years. also features previously seen video of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahri as well as an interview with a man said to be the suicide bomber who attacked the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, last year, according to a preliminary analysis of the video. Wow, the collectors edition. I wonder if they have blooper outtakes of botched IV sticks on Osama. "We shall continue to target you at home and abroad, just as you target us at home and abroad, and these spy dens and military command and control centers from which you plotted your aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq, and which still provide vital moral, military, material and logistical support to the Crusade, shall continue to be legitimate targets for brave Muslims," says Gadahn, who hails from Orange County, Calif. "Stop the Crusade,and leave the Muslims alone." No doubt he subscribes to the Register, too. As the Blotter on ABCNews.com reported last week, this highly anticipated video was advertised for days on extreme Islamist Web sites with the headline "Wait for the Big Surprise." Sucked all the oxygen out of the room so that the new Bourne movie hype couldn't get any traction. The video features a graphic re-enactment of last year's attack in Karachi, which killed four people, including an American diplomat, as well as aftermath video of the 1998 attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. "As for our message to the Americans and their Crusader allies," said Gadahn, "it is this: The amount of respect we have for your international law is even less than the respect you hold for defined Shariah, We are talking small numbers here; makes a nano look big. and our observance of it is comparable to your observance of Shariah's. How can we comply with a law which contradicts divine law in whole and in part? How can we recognize a law which states that the embassy or consulate is for all intents and purposes an inviolable fortress which the host country has no right to enter or monitor and when our Shariah's commands us to liberate every handspan of Islamic land occupied by the unbelievers?"

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Terror Networks

Bin Laden 50, if still alive

2007-03-10

(Reuters) SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan - Osama bin Laden, if he’s alive, celebrates his 50th birthday on Saturday, and his friends in the Taliban prayed for his long life. The al-Qaida leader’s long silence has fueled speculation that the world’s most-wanted fugitive may have died, though many in the international intelligence community reckon Islamist militant Web sites would circulate word of his death. Why would they possibly want to hide the death of the leader of their international movement? “He is alive. I am 100 percent sure,” Taliban spokesman Mullah Hayatullah Khan told Reuters, adding that senior leaders were in touch with bin Laden, reinforcing a widely held view that he is hiding near the rugged Pakistan-Afghanistan border.That suggests some ambiguity as to which side of the border he is on Khan said special prayers were offered by Taliban fighters in camps in Afghanistan to mark bin Laden’s birth on March 10, 1957, in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. “We prayed that Allah may give him 200 years to live,” Khan said,” by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location. Hope that works out for ya “When we woke up today, we offered collective and long prayers for him because he is a great mujahid (holy warrior).” The most recent videotape of bin Laden was released in late 2004 -- subsequent tapes released were identified as old footage -- and around half a dozen audio tapes surfaced in the first half of 2006. But a long silence since then has fueled rumors that bin Laden is unwell, or dead, though the United States fears that the al-Qaida network he founded is rebuilding its base in Pakistani tribal lands, and has forged ties with affiliates in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Dead or alive, bin Laden is revered by some as the symbolic leader of a global jihad, or holy war, against the United States, following the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington that killed more than 3,000 people. By some... what a quaint way to put it “He is the man who raised voices against excesses being committed on Muslims all over the world,” the Taliban spokesman said. Well, him and every single professor at Berkeley, Harvard, etc. The Taliban were ousted from power by U.S.-backed forces in late 2001 after their leaders refused to surrender bin Laden following the al-Qaida attacks on the United States. The attacks triggered the largest manhunt in history, with over 12,000 U.S.-led troops scouring the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan for over five years.Geez, I wonder why they haven't been able to find him in Afghanistan The United States also announced a $25 million reward for any information leading to the arrest or death of bin Laden, but leads on his whereabouts have been few and far between. Intelligence on the movements of his Egyptian deputy, Ayman al Zawahri, is gathered more frequently. Well that makes sense

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India-Pakistan

CIA Rushing Resources to Bin Laden Hunt

2007-03-06

Although never publicly acknowledged, Pakistan has permitted CIA teams to secretly operate inside Pakistan. Pakistan officials say they are aware that CIA teams have increased their presence in northern Waziristan since last September when Pakistan withdrew its troops from the area under a much-criticized "peace deal" with tribal leaders. Armed with fresh intelligence, the CIA is moving additional man power and equipment into Pakistan in the effort to find Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri, U.S. officials tell ABC News. "Reports that the trail has gone stone cold are not correct," said one U.S. official. "We are very much increasing our efforts there," the official said. People familiar with the CIA operation say undercover officers with paramilitary training have been ordered into Pakistan and the area across the border with Afghanistan as part of the ramp-up. Although never publicly acknowledged, Pakistan has permitted CIA teams to secretly operate inside Pakistan. Pakistan officials say they are aware that CIA teams have increased their presence in northern Waziristan since last September when Pakistan withdrew its troops from the area under a much-criticized "peace deal" with tribal leaders. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell testified last week that current intelligence "to the best of our knowledge" puts both bin Laden and al Zawahri in Pakistan. It was the first time a high-ranking U.S. official publicly identified Pakistan as bin Laden's hiding place. Past intelligence has indicated that bin Laden often changed locations in March, traveling to hiding places in the mountains once the snow cover begins to melt.

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India-Pakistan

CIA: Bin Laden In Pakistan Establishing New Camps (Surprise!!)

2007-02-28

In a story as surprising as the left wing dominated National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences voting the Chixie Twits grammys, or the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voting Al Bore an Oscar for his anti-science "movie"... In the most definitive statement in years, America's top intelligence official said Tuesday Osama bin laden is in Pakistan actively re-establishing al Qaeda training camps. Duh! The newly appointed Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell made the assertion about bin Laden and his No. 2 man, Ayman al Zawahri, in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Referring to Pakistan's rugged tribal area, McConnell said "to the best of our knowledge that the senior leadership, No. 1 and No. 2, are there, and they are attempting to re-establish and rebuild and to establish training camps." but we have no stomach to do what needs to be done...so we would rather talk around it while brave Americans die, and left wing moonbat senators/congrssmen beat us to death. Until now, U.S. intelligence officials had declined to publicly identify, with such certainty, the location of bin Laden although he has long been suspected of hiding in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan. long suspected my ***. We have known where he is for a long time. we just don't want to admit it, because it would require decisive, unpopular (on the arab street and among moonbats) action. McConnell's testimony came the day after the CIA deputy director, Stephen R. Kappes, flew to Pakistan to confront President Pervez Musharaff with "compelling" evidence that new al Qaeda training camps were being established on Pakistani territory. President Musharaff...Do you know there are AQ training camps in the Wazoo? Do you know Bin Ladin is hiding there? No? Oh, OK. U.S. officials would not describe the evidence in any detail, but people in the intelligence community have speculated recently that the CIA may have obtained surveillance photos of either bin Laden or Zawahri in Pakistan. Double Duh!! and satellites and UAV's. Triple Duh!!! McConnell's public testimony was followed by a closed, secret session with senators. Is Leaky Leay there? We have to arc-light the wazoo. Play to win and piss on the rest. It's America and American lives at stake.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan takes issue with Negroponte over al Qaeda

2007-01-12

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Friday the United States had not given it any information about the presence of al Qaeda leaders, following remarks from U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte that they were holed up in Pakistan. "We have no such information nor has any such thing been communicated to us by any U.S. authority," Pakistan's military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan told Reuters. "We know nothing! Tell them Hogan." Washington's ally has always contended that Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri could be either side of the rugged, porous border with Afghanistan. But in an unusually direct statement, Negroponte on Thursday named Pakistan as the center of an al Qaeda web that radiated out to the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. In a testimony to a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Negroponte wrote, without naming bin Laden or Zawahri, that al Qaeda leaders are holed up in a secure hide-out in Pakistan. He said they were rebuilding a network that has been decimated by the capture or killing of hundreds of al Qaeda members since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Pakistan's foreign ministry issued a response to Negroponte's comments, saying he should have mentioned that successes against al Qaeda were made possible by Pakistan and the focus should "remain on cooperation instead of questionable criticism". It also contradicted Negroponte's assertion that al Qaeda operatives elsewhere were being controlled from Pakistan. "In breaking the back of al Qaeda, Pakistan has done more than any other country in the world," spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said. Many security analysts suspect that bin Laden is likely to be hiding in Pakistan's best 4-star guest house tribal regions or neighboring districts of North West Frontier Province. There has also been speculation that he may have died, though intelligence agencies say they have not picked up any supporting evidence. A half-dozen audio tapes of bin Laden were circulated in the first half of 2006, but the al Qaeda leader last appeared in video tape in late 2004. Subsequent tapes released were identified as old footage. I hadn't heard that. Zawahri, meantime, has had several tapes released. On January 5, an audio-tape was posted on the Web by al Qaeda's media arm al-Sahab, exhorting Somalian Islamists to attack Ethiopia. The authenticity of the tape could not be verified, but correspondents familiar with Zawahri's voice said it was his. In January last year CIA-operated drone aircraft carried out a missile strike on Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region based on information that Zawahri might be there. The strike on Damadola village did not kill Zawahri, though it possibly eliminated a handful of al Qaeda militants. It killed 18 villagers. Analysts say Pakistan's denials that it was informed of the strike beforehand were aimed at off-setting domestic criticism of its alliance with the United States. Last October, around 80 men, some of them young boys, were killed in a missile attack on a madrasa in Bajaur, though this time the Pakistan military said it carried out the operation. In his testimony, Negroponte acknowledged Pakistan's efforts in the fight against terrorism but said it was also a "major source of Islamic extremism". He also noted President Pervez Musharraf was aware of the risk of sparking a revolt among ethnic Pashtuns living in the tribal belt straddling the border, as well as the political risks of a backlash from Islamist political parties, especially as national elections are due in Pakistan this year.

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