News
Friday, June 10, 2011
Working with Pakistan key in anti-al Qaeda fight: Panetta
WASHINGTON: Cooperating with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism is essential to maintain pressure on al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden’s death, CIA chief Leon Panetta said ahead of a US Senate hearing on Thursday.
“Continuing cooperation with Pakistan is critical to keep a tremendous amount of pressure on al Qaeda’s leadership and the networks that provide it support and safe havens at a time when it is most vulnerable,” Panetta said in written responses to US lawmakers. But he warned that Pakistan needed to do more to step up in the fight against terrorism. “Future requests for security assistance will be informed by Pakistan’s response to the counter-terrorism steps we have proposed,” he said.
Panetta is to attend Thursday’s hearing of the Senate Armed Services committee as it considers his nomination to be the next secretary of defence to replace Robert Gates.
Al Qaeda linked militants who control much of Somalia are looking to extend their operations and carry out attacks abroad, Panetta said.
“The threat from al Shebab to the US and Western interests in the Horn of Africa and to the US homeland is significant and on the rise,” Panetta wrote. “Al Shebab leaders, who have claimed affiliation with al Qaeda since 2007, are developing ties with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and are showing an increasing desire to stage attacks on international level in addition to their acts of violence inside Somalia,” he says in his written text. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk