Clinton Suggests Pakistan Knows Where Al-Qaida Leaders Are
By VOA News
29 October 2009
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says it is hard to believe that Pakistani authorities do not know where al-Qaida leaders are hiding.
She told Pakistani journalists in Lahore Thursday it is also difficult to believe the Pakistani government could not "get" the terrorists if it wanted to.
The United States says top al-Qaida leaders are living along the Pakistani border with Afghanistan.
Clinton is later due to meet Pakistan's army chief on the second day of her three-day visit.
They are expected to discuss the Pakistani military's offensive against extremists in South Waziristan.
The military said Thursday its forces have surrounded a stronghold of Uzbek fighters allied with the Taliban in the northwestern town of Kaniguram.
Clinton says the United States is united with Pakistan in its fight against extremists, but is also concerned about the country's economic, social and democratic development.
The top U.S. diplomat met students, officials and religious leaders in Lahore earlier Thursday, in an effort to improve the U.S. image in country where anti-American sentiment is growing. While in Lahore, Clinton also visited the Badshahi Mosque.
Several people asked her about a lack of trust between Pakistan and the United States. Clinton said the two countries are at a point where they can build a new relationship based more on common interests than differences.
The secretary of state has announced several new foreign aid initiatives during her trip -- including $103 million dollars for improving law enforcement and border security, $56 million for Pakistanis displaced by the army's ongoing anti-Taliban offensives and $45 million for expanding higher education.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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