Topic: Pakistan Rejects Claim Al-Qaida,Taliban Leaders On Its Soil

Wall Street Journal (wsj.com)
February 9, 2008 ISLAMABAD (AFP)--Pakistan on Saturday dismissed a senior U.S. official's assertion that al-Qaida and Taliban leaders Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammad Omar were operating from its tribal areas.
"The claim by an unnamed official is baseless," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq, who said Islamabad would take action if the U.S. provided it with intelligence to support the statement.
The U.S. official made the comment at a media briefing in Washington Friday, as U.S. Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen was in Pakistan for talks with top military officials believed to focus on counter-terrorism.
"There is no question that the iconic leaders of Al-Qaida -- (Ayman al-)Zawahiri, bin Laden ... are in the tribal areas of Pakistan," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We believe that the Taliban's shura (consultation) council leaders led by Mullah Omar reside in Quetta in Pakistan," he said, referring to the capital of rugged Baluchistan province.
Mullen's visit followed bloody clashes in the tribal region between Pakistani forces and militants commanded by Al-Qaida linked tribal Baitullah Mehsud.
A top al-Qaida operative Abu Laith al-Libbi was killed in a suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan's north Waziristan tribal area early this month.