Pakistan denies CIA set covert bases on its soil

12/13/2004 12:49:00 PM GMT

Pakistan denied on Monday a report published in the New York Times saying that the CIA has set up bases in the country to hunt Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The report, citing unnamed U.S. officials, said the CIA had concluded that bin Laden was hiding in the country under the protection of local tribesmen and foreign militants.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has previously acknowledged that a number of American experts were working with Pakistani troops in their operations against Al Qaida members. However, he denied that the U.S. forces — deployed in neighboring Afghanistan — were hunting for bin Laden on Pakistani soil.

On Monday, officials repeated Pakistan's argument that they have no evidence that bin Laden was hiding in the country, and denied report published by The New York Times, saying that the CIA had set up covert bases in the country.

"There are no CIA cells in Pakistan ... in our tribal areas, and there is absolutely no truth in this New York Times report," said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan.

U.S. and Pakistani generals said previously that they believe that the trail in the hunt for Al Qaeda leader has gone cold.

In a television interview on Sunday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that bin Laden was "definitely" in the region, however he refused to say where.

A senior Pakistan counterterrorism official said on Monday that U.S. officials failed to come up with any intelligence on bin Laden's whereabouts.

"Whenever U.S. intelligence and communication experts come up with some specific information, and they need our help, we organize things, act on their tips, but the operations are conducted by our own security forces," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Also the Times said that Pakistani military officials were supervising the CIA personnel at the alleged bases in the country, limiting their effectiveness.

A senior official of Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency denied the New York Times report that militants in the tribal regions were being protected by some ISI officers.

"There is no truth in the allegation," the official said on condition of anonymity.

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