Pakistan appears no closer to crippling al-Qaeda or snaring its leader, despite scores of militant arrests in recent months which highlighted its active role in the war on terror, officials and experts say. In a highly publicised sweep since July, Pakistan has arrested more than 70 suspected small-fry members of al-Qaeda or its allies, and President Pervez Musharraf has vowed there would be no let up in the country's biggest offensive ever to crush Islamic militancy. "Pakistan's efforts are unprecedented and almost unbelievable," a US counter terrorism official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "But not every individual arrest is important," the official said. "They're casting a very wide net. Still, we hope that one of these arrests will net another big fish, or someone with key information on who al-Qaeda has in the United States."
| "Hasn't happened yet, but we keep hoping!" |
Several officials and analysts said the mass arrests were no measure of success in the struggle to dismantle Osama bin Laden's network and reduce the threat of attacks because the identity of many detainees was unclear and Pakistan may be exaggerating their relevance. |