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CIA May Launch New Covert Ops in Pakistan

Seeks to thwart al-Qaeda muscle; but Pakistan won't stand for it

By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 6, 2008 7:32 AM CST
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(Newser) – Bush administration officials are weighing plans for the CIA and US military to conduct new, more aggressive covert operations in Pakistan, the New York Times reports. The proposal is a response to growing al-Qaeda and Taliban efforts to destabilize Pakistan, cast in sharp focus by the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Pakistan officials, however, say they will not allow such operations.

"It is not up to the US administration; it is Pakistan's government who is responsible for this country," a Pakistani leader told AFP in response to the Times report. US diplomats and military officials warn that American-led operations in tribal areas along the Afghan border could backfire, further weakening the already unpopular Musharraf government.

An armed supporter of the Pakistani radical Islamic group 'Lashkar Islam or Army of Islam' keeps guard during a rally in Bara, the main town of Pakistan's lawless Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Pakistani authorities have only a limited grip on its tribal areas...
An armed supporter of the Pakistani radical Islamic group 'Lashkar Islam or Army of Islam' keeps guard during a rally in Bara, the main town of Pakistan's lawless Khyber tribal region near the Afghan...   (Associated Press)
Mangil Bagh, second right, Chief of the Pakistani radical Islamic group 'Lashkar Islam or Army of Islam' with his aides, attends a rally in Bara, the main town of Pakistan's lawless Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Pakistani authorities have only a limited grip on...
Mangil Bagh, second right, Chief of the Pakistani radical Islamic group 'Lashkar Islam or Army of Islam' with his aides, attends a rally in Bara, the main town of Pakistan's lawless Khyber tribal region...   (Associated Press)
Armed supporters of a Pakistani radical Islamic group Lashkar Islam or Army of Islam keep guard on their colleagues, who listen to a speech by the party's chief Mangil Bagh, unseen, during a rally in Bara, the main town of Pakistan's lawless Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border, Thursday,...
Armed supporters of a Pakistani radical Islamic group "Lashkar Islam or Army of Islam" keep guard on their colleagues, who listen to a speech by the party's chief Mangil Bagh, unseen, during a rally in...   (Associated Press)
Pakistan's Army troops arrive to take positions in the area of Matta near Mangora, the main town of Pakistani district Swat along Afghan border, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. Pakistan reiterated that it will not allow U.S. forces to hunt down al-Qaida and Taliban militants on its soil, after a...
Pakistan's Army troops arrive to take positions in the area of Matta near Mangora, the main town of Pakistani district Swat along Afghan border, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. Pakistan reiterated that it will...   (Associated Press)
Supporters of a Pakistani radical Islamic group 'Lashkar Islam or Army of Islam' listen to a speech by the party's chief Mangil Bagh, unseen, during a rally in Bara, the main town of Pakistan's lawless Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Pakistani authorities have only...
Supporters of a Pakistani radical Islamic group 'Lashkar Islam or Army of Islam' listen to a speech by the party's chief Mangil Bagh, unseen, during a rally in Bara, the main town of Pakistan's lawless...   (Associated Press)
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Pakistan: We won't allow US ops in tribal areas
Bloomberg

 
Taliban • CIA • Pakistan • Pervez Musharraf • Benazir Bhutto • Osama bin Laden • al-Qaeda • George W. Bush

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