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'Washington Post' Reporting American Troops Along Afghan Border Have Been Attacked Several Times

Aired April 25, 2002 - 05:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: COSTELLO: And we've known for a while that unidentified U.S. military units have been involved in tracking al Qaeda forces along the Pakistani-Afghan border. Well, today the "Washington Post" is reporting American troops in that mountainous region have been attacked several times over the last month.

And joining us on the phone to talk about that is CNN's Ash-Har Quraishi, who is in Karachi, Pakistan -- good morning.

ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, what we're hearing from the government is not much different from what we've been hearing in the past. Although they are acknowledging the fact that there are U.S. assets, as they call them, in Pakistan currently, they say that their involvement, they characterize their involvement here as purely intelligence gathering and logistical. And I spoke to senior government officials here in Pakistan who say that at best they can be described as communications experts. And they are assisting Pakistani forces in some of these operations, these raids on suspected al Qaeda hideouts.

A case in point, the Lahore Faislabad (ph) raids in which they picked up Abu Zubaydah. The government says that while the operation was pointed out by U.S. operatives, they said that the operatives did not actually participate on the ground in those operations. They say that they are purely for intelligence purposes and purely for supporting Pakistani forces here.

Also, they say that those people that they're saying are in the tribal areas for the first time, they say that those are also communications experts and they say that they're not sure as to whether or not U.S. assets actually went in to put in some of this equipment, these communications equipments, or whether or not they've been working through Pakistani agencies.

So it's still unclear as to exactly what is happening in those areas from here in Pakistan -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So they're really not coming out and being open about what exactly is happening there, Ash-Har?

QURAISHI: Absolutely not. And it's something that we're expecting, as well. Just around the corner, the referendum that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is holding, he's holding a vote to see if the people in Pakistan will keep him as president of Pakistan for the next five years. So it's a touchy subject, the fact that there are even U.S. assets on Pakistani soil. And if it actually gets out and if people say that these assets are participating in attacks against suspected al Qaeda hideouts, that may be something that would be damaging to President Musharraf's referendum -- Carol.

COSTELLO: The Pakistani government is admitting, though, that some dangerous people could be hiding out in Pakistan, people that Americans want?

QURAISHI: Well, they're not going so far as to admit it. But as we've seen with the arrest of Abu Zubaydah, that is the fact. The fact is that they are looking for suspected al Qaeda members here in Pakistan. The government is being very, very careful, though, as to say whether or not the U.S. assets are being allowed to conduct specific operations in regards to those al Qaeda members. They've also said in the past, President Musharraf has said that the U.S. has not even requested for their forces to conduct operations in the United States, saying that the United States is satisfied with what kind of support Pakistan is giving the United States in that regard -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Ash-Har Quraishi reporting live from Karachi, Pakistan this morning. We appreciate it.

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