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Bin Laden Is 'Planning' in Pakistan, Says US Official

Posted Feb 9, 08 6:00 AM CST in World 

(Newser) – Mullah Omar and his Taliban compatriots are running their insurgency from the Pakistani city of Quetta, while Osama bin Laden is operating in tribal areas of the country, says a US official. Bin Laden and right-hand man Ayman Al-Zawahiri  are “planning” near the Afghanistan border, says the source, in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Area, Reuters reports.

Despite such activity, said the unidentified official, the US still regards Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf as an able ally. Musharraf has proven his worth “both in terms of the degree to which his forces have taken on al-Qaeda in particular, and the extent to which we think he's doing quite well given the hand he was dealt,” said the official.

Source Reuters

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An undated handout photo from Pakistan's Press Information Department shows Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf as he addresses a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan. Al-Qaida chief Osama bin...   (Associated Press)
This undated photo shows al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. bin Laden will release a new Internet message that focuses on Iraq and an al-Qaida linked insurgent group, a terrorism monitoring...   (Associated Press)
The rarely photographed Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar is reportedly seen in this undated photo. A US official says Omar is currently operating in Pakistan. (AP Photo/File)   (Associated Press)
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Pakistan • Pervez Musharraf • Taliban • insurgents • Osama bin Laden • Ayman al Zawahiri • Mullah Omar


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