Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Pakistan rejected suggestions that US forces be sent into Pakistan to strike at Osama Bin Laden after a senior US official said the architect of 9/11 was in northern Pakistan.
A recent US intelligence report said that al-Qaeda was intensifying efforts to put operatives into the US, whilst analysts warn that al-Qaeda's leaders have found a "safe haven" in Pakistani tribal areas where they have been allowed to regroup.
Pakistani officials denied the charge. Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri said he did not believe that the al-Qaeda leader was in Pakistan; instead he claimed that if the US shared its intelligence, Pakistan's army could do a better job.
Following the recent wave of violence, President Pervez Musharraf last week vowed to root out extremists "from every corner of the country”
Security forces announced that 20 militants were killed in clashes on Saturday night and Sunday in North Waziristan, while 10 security personnel were wounded.