Unprecedented secrecy shrouded Cheney’s trip as US Secret Service may be uneasy about how freely Al-Qaeda moves in Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: The US Vice President Dick Cheney, on an unannounced trip to Pakistan on Monday, said that Al-Qaeda is regrouping in Pakistan’s remote border area and sought President General Pervez Musharraf’s help in a stiffened push against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, Musharraf’s office said.
Cheney’s stopover from Australia en route to Afghanistan came as British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett also held talks with Musharraf. “Cheney expressed US apprehensions of regrouping of Al-Qaeda in the tribal areas and called for concerted efforts in countering the threat,” according to a Pakistan government statement issued after the meeting.
The vice president’s office asked news organisations that knew of Cheney’s upcoming trip, and the small number of reporters travelling with him, to withhold any mention of his travels until after he had left the country.
That request went far beyond the usual precautions as American officials travel into and out of Pakistan. President Bush’s visit there last year was announced in advance, and a recent trip by Secretary of Defence Robert Gates was announced after he had landed in the country.
It was unclear if the request reflected Cheney’s well-known penchant for secrecy — he said nothing in public during his visit — or an increasing unease by the Secret Service about how freely Al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives are moving in Pakistan.
There have long been doubts about the loyalties of some members of Musharraf’s intelligence service, and assassination attempts against him have been linked to Al-Qaeda.
Democrats, who took control of Congress last month, have urged the White House to put greater pressure on Pakistan because of statements from American commanders that units based in Pakistan that are linked to the Taliban, Afghanistan’s ousted rulers, are increasing their attacks into Afghanistan.
The US and Britain have been lavishing praise on Pakistan for its role in arresting Al-Qaeda suspects who hid in Pakistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
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