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http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,690798,00.html British special forces believed to be hunting al-Qaida in Pakistan Jason Burke in Bagram Friday April 26, 2002 The Guardian British special forces hunting al-Qaida and former Taliban fighters are believed to be operating alongside their American counterparts inside Pakistan. Officials in Washington and London refused to confirm this yesterday, but defence sources said privately that the SAS or SBS had been deployed inside the country. Allied military planners had been seeking Pakistani permission to cross the border to hunt fighters fleeing Afghanistan for months. Now it appears to have been granted. The operation comes at a sensitive time for Pakistan's leader, General Pervez Musharraf. He has called a referendum on his rule in five days' time. Many Pakistanis oppose the allied operation in Afghanistan and are angry at his cooperation with the US. That the tribesmen in the lawless border areas have been helping al-Qaida fighters is no secret. Local Pashtun tribes have strong personal, religious and ethnic ties to the Taliban. Three weeks ago a statement purporting to come from Osama bin Laden, posted on a website run by Taliban sympathisers, thanked Pakistani supporters in the tribal areas for sheltering him and his followers. Arab journalists who have been in the region said that several hundred al-Qaida fighters were hiding there. One journalist saw about 200 predominantly Arab fighters near the Pakistani border town of Miram Shah. A Pakistani military spokesman denied that any allied military forces were operating inside the country. However, CNN reported last night that an undisclosed number of American troops had been sent to Pakistan to prepare for future operations there. Earlier this week Brigadier Roger Lane, commander of 3 Commando Brigade, which has provided most of the British combat forces in Afghanistan, said that he could only operate "within the landmass of Afghanistan". However, he told the Guardian that though "there is plenty for us to do, clearly I would prefer the [al-Qaida] people to be on this side of the border, so we can prosecute our mission". The SAS and SBS detachments in Afghanistan work in close coordination with his 1,700 troops, drawn largely from 45 Royal Marine Commando based at Arbroath in Scotland. One problem faced by Brig Lane appears to be finding a target that justifies mounting a large-scale combat operation. The special forces operating in the mountains along the frontier are primarily deployed in an intelligence gathering role. Intelligence experts are poring over the web statement that Bin Laden or one of his close aides appears to have written. In his statement Bin Laden thanks the tribal people of Pakistan and Afghanistan for "opening their houses" to him and his men, and reassures followers that he is well. "We are now adopting a new strategy to meet the present changed circumstances," the statement says. "What is going on in Afghanistan is for a short time and will be over soon." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
