Pakistan: No al-Qaida safe havens
Jim Swanson August 6th, 2007 - 5:47 pm By SADAQAT JAN
The Associated Press
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan said Monday there are no al-Qaida or Taliban safe havens in its territory and that new laws tying U.S. aid to Islamabad’s performance in fighting militants threatens to harm security cooperation between the two countries.
Pakistani officials have grown increasingly annoyed at a wave of recent claims from Washington and U.S. presidential candidates that al-Qaida has regrouped in the tribal regions along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.
Washington has strongly criticized a September 2006 peace deal with pro-Taliban militants that reduced the Pakistani army’s presence in restive North Waziristan. Last month, the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate indicated that al-Qaida may be regrouping in the region because the peace deal allowed more freedom for militants to operate.
But Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam rebutted that claim at a weekly briefing Monday. “There is no al-Qaida or Taliban safe haven in Pakistan,” she said.
Aslam also reiterated Pakistan’s criticism of a bill signed by President Bush on Friday that requires the president to confirm that Pakistan is making progress in combatting al-Qaida and Taliban inside its territory before the United States provides aid to the Muslim nation.
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