Pakistani Army Chief Rebukes Americans

Cross-border tensions in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida militants erupted into the open yesterday as Pakistan's frontline commander issued a stinging rebuke to the top US general in Afghanistan.

Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain, who leads 70,000 troops in the lawless tribal belt, described as "highly irresponsible" comments by Lieutenant General David Barno that Pakistan was about to launch an anti-terrorist operation.

"He should not have made that statement. It was a figment of his imagination. There is no bloody operation going on until we have the right intelligence," he told the Guardian at his headquarters in Peshawar.

Osama bin Laden was definitely not in his area of control, he added.

The rift underscored Pakistani sensitivities about its military cooperation with the US, which is unpopular across the country and particularly among the conservative northern Pashtun tribes.

"I don't want to give the nation the impression that Barno can come down here and dictate the operation," he said.

In response, Lieutenant Cindy Moore, a coalition spokeswoman in Kabul, said: "Coalition and Pakistani forces share a common enemy in the global war on terrorism."

Pakistan cooperates in operations to corner al-Qaida fugitives hiding along the 1,400-mile border but vehemently rejects suggestions that American troops should be allowed to cross into its territory.

Pakistani troops opened fire on a joint US-Afghan patrol that strayed across the border on January 30, killing one Afghan soldier, Gen Hussain said.

"We warned them 'You are in Pakistan, please go back' through a loudhailer, and fired warning shots in the air. They kept going. Thereafter we opened up on them," he said.

He confirmed that the CIA was operating remote surveillance posts near the border but said its agents were not allowed to roam the tribal areas "for their own safety and security".

Last December Pakistani ministers denied the existence of the US spy stations, following a New York Times report that CIA officials were frustrated by the restrictions on their movements.

"I cannot have them going out to the locals to look for human intelligence," Gen Hussain said. "I won't be responsible for somebody bumping off foreigners in my area."

The tensions may stem from a combination of US impatience to accelerate the hunt for al-Qaida militants, and Pakistani reluctance to anger further the tribesmen sheltering them.

"There is a lot of anti-Americanism in the tribal belt, and al-Qaida knows how to take advantage of it," said Talat Masood, a retired general.

The army has scored a large but costly victory against al-Qaida in the South Waziristan tribal agency. An operation last year that involved 25,000 troops, fighter jets and laser-guided missiles, resulted in the death of 306 militants, over 150 of whom were foreigners. According to official figures, 251 Pakistani soldiers were killed.

Now no more than 100 al-Qaida fighters remain in the area, said Gen Hussain. They are led by Tahir Yuldashev, an Uzbek fighter who eluded the dragnet by slipping through a 1-mile long tunnel from a farmhouse to an orchard.

Mr Yuldashev is now believed to be hiding in North Waziristan, a remote border area where Gen Barno recently said Pakistan would start a fresh offensive.

According to intelligence reports the new chief of al-Qaida operations in Pakistan is Khalid Habib, believed to be Libyan.

The army has no public estimate of the number of civilian casualties inflicted in last year's offensive, but local human rights activists estimate that the toll is in the hundreds.

They fear the bloodshed could stoke hostility from local tribesmen. According to Gen Hussain six clans in North Waziristan have signed cooperation agreements with the army but eight remain hostile.

Some believe that rogue elements in the notorious Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency are clandestinely supporting the al-Qaida fugitives.

"If these people are surrounded and without sanctuary then where are they getting help from?" said Tariq Ahmed Khan, provincial coordinator with the Pakistan Human Rights Commission.

Gen Hussain, a former ISI officer, denied the accusations.