Pakistan urges U.S. to share intelligence on Zawahri

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http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-urges-u-share-intelligence-zawahri-115021588.html

Pakistan urges U.S. to share intelligence on Zawahri

By Zeeshan Haider | Reuters – 2 hrs 39 mins ago

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani called on the United States on Sunday to share

information about new al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri after Defense Secretary

Leon Panetta said he believed that Osama bin Laden's successor was in Pakistan.

During his first trip to Kabul on Saturday as Pentagon chief, Panetta said he

believed that the new al Qaeda leader was living in Pakistan's lawless tribal

belt on the Afghan border.

The Pakistani military said its troops were already carrying out " intense

operations " against al Qaeda and its affiliates as well as " terrorists

leadership " and high value targets (HVTs) who pose a threat to Pakistan's

security.

" We expect U.S. intelligence establishment to share available information and

actionable intelligence regarding Al Zawahri and other HVTs with us, enabling

Pakistan Army to carry out targeted operations, " a military spokesman said in a

statement.

The former CIA chief said the strategic defeat of al Qaeda was within reach if

the United States could kill or capture up to 20 remaining leaders of the core

group and its affiliates.

He said these militant leaders were living in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and in

North Africa.

Panetta said now was the time -- in the wake of bin Laden's killing in Pakistan

in May -- to intensify efforts to target al Qaeda leadership, adding that the

United States would like Pakistan to target Zawahri in the tribal areas.

Pakistan is an important U.S. ally, but relations have been seriously damaged

after U.S. Navy SEALs killed bin Laden in a secret raid in the Pakistani

military town of Abbottabad without informing Islamabad in advance.

The United States has also stepped up missile strikes by remotely-piloted drone

aircraft in Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun tribal lands, long regarded as a global

hub of militants.

Pakistan publicly criticizes drone strikes and often demands the United States

provide intelligence on militant leaders hiding in its tribal regions so it can

take action against them.

However, there have been persistent suspicions in Washington that Pakistani

intelligence agencies maintain ties with these militants.

U.S. media last month reported that Panetta confronted Pakistan with evidence

that militants had vacated bomb-making factories in Waziristan after the Unites

States shared intelligence with Pakistan, suggesting that it had tipped off the

insurgents.

The Pakistan army denied the reports.

(Reporting by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Allbritton and Sugita Katyal)