US reviews fight against Qaeda in Pakistan

* Washington focusing on insurgency
* Pentagon, State Deptt at loggerheads over authority

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The political upheaval in Pakistan and emergence there of a new military leader has revitalised the Bush administration’s long struggle to develop a coherent strategy for uprooting Al Qaeda from Pakistan’s tribal areas, an article published in the Washington Post quoted US officials as saying.

The administration is hopeful that Gen Ashfaq Kayani will support more robust efforts involving US intelligence and military operatives targeting Al Qaeda’s terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan, the officials said.

Greater focus: The unrest has led to a greater focus in Washington on threats facing Pakistan, another official said. Senior US officials discussed at the White House last week a new proposal to give US Special Operations forces and the CIA greater leeway to conduct operations in the Tribal Areas. But that proposal remains hampered by bureaucratic infighting in Washington, the article said.

Point of contention: One point of contention involves who within the US government would approve operations in the Tribal Areas. The Pentagon seeks greater authority to conduct operations while coordinating with the State Department. The State Department says the US ambassador should approve every operation in Pakistan. In Pakistan, speculation has intensified for weeks that the US would act unilaterally in the country’s northwestern frontier to counter Al Qaeda’s growing presence there.

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Aarwaa

Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.