The Associated Press March 23, 2002
U.S. facing tough question of what to do about Taliban, al-Qaida fighters who have escaped into Pakistan
By PAULINE JELINEK
The U.S. military faces the difficult question of what to do about al-Qaida and Taliban fighters who escaped from Afghanistan and are gathering in lawless regions of Pakistan.
As many as 1,000 Taliban and al-Qaida members are hiding in Pakistan and planning a comeback in Afghanistan, say Taliban members and others familiar with the Islamic movement.
American troops might chase al-Qaida fighters into Pakistan in "hot pursuit," said the U.S. field commander in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Frank Hagenbeck. "That's a possibility," added Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, stressing that such action would come under limited circumstances and with Pakistani consultation.
This kind of an arrangement with Pakistan was acknowledged months ago by war commander Gen. Tommy Franks. It quickly was played down by Pakistani officials worried about enflaming anti-American Islamic militants in their country.
Sources in Pakistan have told The Associated Press that key al-Qaida figures slipped into the country last year and still may be there.
Bush administration officials also say al-Qaida has increased financial activity and communications in recent weeks and that it centers in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, near the Afghan border.
Military and intelligence officials say enemy fighters in the region are expected to step up activity in the spring as weather improves.
Afghanistan's newly established defense ministry says it is urgently setting up border patrols. During the recent assault on al-Qaida and Taliban regrouping in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. planes dropped leaflets over the Pakistani side, urging people not to shelter fugitives.
Coalition forces also have asked for help along the borders of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, other nations to which al-Qaida members are believed to have fled.
"We need a lot more help," CIA Director George Tenet told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Also last week, Franks met with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to talk about various ideas for routing out terrorism, adding that they did not include any proposal "for launching joint military operations inside" his country.
"It would be extremely difficult for the United States to start shooting people in Pakistan," said John Pike, a defense analyst with Globalsecurity.org. A better way, he said, is having the U.S. military or CIA representatives working with Pakistani border patrols.
Musharraf has won praise from the administration - and been scorned by Islamic extremists - since he abandoned his country's longtime support for the Taliban. One of only three countries that recognized the former Taliban government, he sided with the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Musharraf let the Pentagon use Pakistan air bases and airspace, shared intelligence and put troops at the border. The United States has interrogated prisoners in Pakistan, but has said little more about what U.S. forces are doing there or how many are based there.
The kidnapping and slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl inside Pakistan is seen by some as an attempt by militants to undermine Musharraf.
The bombing last weekend that killed two Americans at a Pakistani church prompted the State Department to order dependents and nonessential embassy workers home from Pakistan and encourage other Americans to leave as well.
The department said the decision did not reflect a lack of confidence in Pakistan's ability to protect Americans. In a national address Saturday, Musharraf chastised his intelligence agency for not preventing such attacks.
Copyright 2002
