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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Musharraf sez the back of the Pakistani al-Qaeda is broken |
| 2004-12-04 |
| Pakistan has broken the back of al Qaeda forces by capturing its "big wigs" even if Osama bin Laden is still at large, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said on Friday. On a visit to Mexico, Musharraf defended his country's record in the U.S.-led war on terror and said Pakistan had arrested 600 al Qaeda militants since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Many are thought to have taken shelter in Pakistani tribal regions near the Afghan border, or have slipped into major cities after fleeing the U.S. hunt for them in Afghanistan. "We have sorted them out in the cities; all the big wigs of al Qaeda caught by Pakistan alone," Musharraf said. "So anyone who thinks that Pakistan is not doing anything on terrorism: if Pakistan is not doing anything, then no one in the world is doing anything," Musharraf said. "All the big names: who caught them? Pakistan caught them, 600 of them." The Pakistani president said his country had crushed al Qaeda's operational and logistics bases. "They are on the run in small pockets. We have broken their back in Pakistan." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |