Word: pakistani
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...seven-year manhunt along the lawless frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan, al-Qaeda's leader and his deputy remain at large, thanks to their superior knowledge of the terrain and the protection of local tribes. Now bin Laden and al-Zawahiri have an added advantage: the precarious state of Pakistani politics...
...Laden has long-term kidney disease and may have only months to live, two U.S. officials familiar with the report told TIME. (A CIA spokesman denied the report exists.) The Pentagon has requested that Bush sign an "execute order" expanding its authority to go after these commanders in Pakistani territory; senior counterterrorism and Defense Department officials tell TIME that broader authority for cross-border strikes from Afghanistan is awaiting consideration by the President and his top advisers. But some in the Administration are reluctant to cross that line for fear of destabilizing Pakistan's recently elected government...
...Administration limited cross-border operations when General Pervez Musharraf was in charge in Islamabad, on the grounds that they might undermine the authority of a key ally in the war on terrorism. Musharraf's troops were meant to track down al-Qaeda commanders on the Pakistani side of the border, a task they performed fitfully. When a coalition of democratic parties came to power after elections in February, the Administration braced itself for even less help hunting terrorists. Sure enough, the new government scaled back antiterrorism operations and promised to find a political solution to the growing pro--al-Qaeda...
...counterterrorism official, there is no conclusive intelligence on the whereabouts of the second-tier commanders. If Bush signs the execute order, he will be increasing the risk that faulty intelligence could produce tragic mistakes--and public relations disasters--like the U.S. air strike on June 10 that killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers near the Afghan border, causing explosive outrage nationwide...
...Pakistanis privately say they will tolerate a U.S. incursion if it is directed specifically against bin Laden or al-Zawahiri--but nobody else. A senior Pakistani official tells TIME that this will be the message Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani delivers to President Bush when they meet in Washington at the end of July. "If they do a raid and they find No. 3 or No. 4 or No. 5 but don't get bin Laden, it's going to be a real problem," says the official. Risking Pakistan instability, however, may be the only way for the President...