US spy chief's assessment reflect unease over Pakistan's terror fight

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A charge by US spy chief John Negroponte that Pakistan is harboring Al-Qaeda and the Taliban suggests US unease over Islamabad's commitment to the battle against terrorism, experts say. In an annual "threat assessment" to Congress Thursday, Director of National Intelligence Negroponte pointedly said "the Taliban and Al-Qaeda maintain critical sanctuaries" in Pakistan, a top US ally in the "war on terror." "Pakistan is our partner in the war on terror and captured several Al-Qaeda leaders.

However, it is also a major source of Islamic extremism," he said. He also linked Pakistan to the raging insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan, where NATO troops face an uphill battle against Taliban militants. "Eliminating the safe haven that the Taliban and other...