Posted on 08/11/2004 3:11:12 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - President Pervez Musharraf says Pakistan has been "90 percent" successful in arresting suspects behind a series of high-profile terror attacks, including against key government leaders.
Yet senior officials said yesterday that some al-Qaeda fugitives escaped after news reports revealed the arrest of a computer expert for Osama bin Laden's network who was cooperating with investigators.
Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, a 25-year-old Pakistani, was arrested in a July 13 raid in the eastern city of Lahore. His capture was a signal victory for Pakistan, a U.S. ally in the war on terrorism. He led authorities to a key al-Qaeda figure and sent e-mail to terrorists so investigators could trace their locations.
In an interview published in a Pakistani newspaper yesterday, Musharraf hailed efforts of the country's intelligence agencies.
"We have achieved an unprecedented 90 percent success to unearth elements involved in terrorist attacks against myself, Prime Minister-in-waiting Shaukat Aziz and in other high-profile cases," Musharraf said, according to the News.
Pakistan has seen a string of bombings and suicide attacks over the last year, including two suicide bombings by Islamic militants that the president narrowly escaped in December, and another last month targeting Aziz, the current finance minister and prime minister-designate. Seven people were killed in the attack, though Aziz was unhurt.
The attacks appear to have reinforced Musharraf's resolve to crack down on al-Qaeda, whose elusive leader has long been believed to be hiding out along Pakistan's forbidding border with Afghanistan. Pakistan has arrested about 30 terror suspects in less than a month.
Yesterday, two senior officials expressed dismay that the arrest of Khan made it into the media too soon - reported first in American newspapers on Aug. 2 after it was disclosed to journalists by U.S. officials in Washington.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice acknowledged Sunday that Khan's name had been disclosed to reporters in Washington "on background," meaning it could be published, but the information could not be attributed to the official who had revealed it.
The Pakistani officials said that after Khan's arrest, other al-Qaeda suspects abruptly changed their hideouts and moved to unknown places. On Monday, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D., N.Y.) asked the White House to explain why Khan's name was revealed.
The disclosure Aug. 1 came as the Bush administration was defending its decision to warn about possible attacks against U.S. financial buildings in New York, Washington and Newark, N.J.
seems like a no win situation
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