PAK-MULLEN 2

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had ruffled
feathers in Islamabad by claiming during a recent visit that
bin Laden and other top Al Qaida leaders are in Pakistan.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had dismissed
her assertion, describing them as "speculations".
US-led forces in Afghanistan recently said they had
detected an influx of LeT operatives in Nangarhar province,
which borders Pakistan's Khyber tribal region, and arrested
several persons associated with the move to send Pakistani
militants to fight alongside the Afghan Taliban.
Responding to questions, Mullen said Al Qaida leaders
are hiding in a "very secure place" and it is difficult to
trace them. He described Pakistan's tribal belt bordering
Afghanistan as the "global headquarters" for the Al Qaida
terror network.
Mullen praised Pakistan for moving against militants
but said that there is still a need to take action against the
Haqqani network, which has been disturbing peace inside
Afghanistan.
He described the Haqqani group as "the most lethal
network" faced by US-led international forces in Afghanistan
and said he had repeatedly urged Pakistan to tackle this
threat. Pakistani forces are aware of the threat posed by the
Haqqani group, he said.
"The Haqqani network is strongly engaged and involved
in insurgencies in Afghanistan and there is a need to take a
much stronger position against it," said Mullen, who is on his
19th visit to Pakistan.
The US and Pakistan are strong allies in the war
against terror and America will continue providing help and
cooperation to Pakistan in this war, he said.
"The Pakistan government has made critical decisions
to achieve success in the war against terrorism," he said.
Asked about the withdrawal of US forces from
Afghanistan, he said such a move would not mark the end of the
mission but the start of a process whereby the US military
will stay in Afghanistan till complete peace is restored.
Answering a question about the reconciliation process
in Afghanistan, Mullen said the US leadership is fully
supporting the move led by Afghan President Hamid Karzai as
both sides have a significant stake in this process. However,
he cautioned that the time was not right for reconciliation
with warring groups.
"Reconciliation can only be successful from a position
of strength. In my perspective, we are not in that position of
strength. We need to be in a very strong position for that to
be meaningful but we are not there," he said. (More) PTI