Pakistan is a terrorist hub: US, European officials

Washington, Aug 12 (UNI) US and European officials have described Pakistan as the hub of a plot to down transatlantic flights as the young British men allegedly behind the planned airline terror attacks drew financial and logistical support from sources in Karachi and Lahore.

British authorities and the FBI were investigating whether some of the suspects attended training camps in Pakistan.

''The Pakistan connection is the big focus now,'' said one intelligence source adding that ''Everything is coming out of there''.

At least 17 suspects in British custody for the aviation plot have family ties to Pakistan, and several had travelled there in recent months to seek instructions and confer with unknown conspirators, the Washington Post said quoting unnamed intelligence officials.

Pakistan's government, calling itself as a ''reliable ally'' in the US fight against terrorism, said it had made at least seven arrests connected to the plot but insisted that the conspiracy was centered in neighboring Afghanistan. Two of the men in custody there were British citizens.

Officials emphasised that they were not certain the alleged conspiracy had been entirely broken up.

''There is serious concern about potential operatives still out there plotting,'' a senior US administration official said.

''There are people we are still concerned about and people we want arrested and questions we need answered,'' he added.

Investigators say the conspirators hoped to down as many as 10 US-bound flights by sneaking liquid-based explosives aboard and detonating them in flight.

British police arrested 24 people, and airline security officials.

Among those arrested in Pakistan was Rashid Rauf, a British citizen who was detained along the country's border with Afghanistan. His brother, Tayib, was among the people arrested in Britain.

A statement from Pakistan's Foreign Ministry described Rashid Rauf as a central figure in the plot and said he had an ''Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda connection''.

Five Pakistani citizens were arrested in separate raids in Lahore and Karachi. Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said in an interview with the CNN that the suspects had been monitored for quite some time before they were detained.

US and British investigators were also looking into the potential role of a Pakistani identified as Matiur Rehman. Several intelligence officials said Rehman is not a member of al-Qaeda but may have some link to Osama bin Laden's group.

''His possible role in the plot is being looked at,'' one official said yesterday.

Pakistani authorities were also investigating the financial transactions of a Muslim charity made through at least a dozen bank branches in Karachi and Peshawar.

US intelligence analysts say they believe that the principal remaining leadership of al-Qaeda is hiding in Pakistan. Despite increased cooperation between the Islamabad government and Western powers since the attacks of September 11, 2001, they say, the number of extremists inside the country may be on the rise and elements of Pakistan's intelligence services remain sympathetic to their cause, the newspaper said.

Even though the British government said Pakistan's cooperation was vital in undoing the alleged bombing conspiracy, US officials said that even five years after the September 11 attacks, they are far from countering, or even understanding, the level of threat emanating from Pakistan's lawless regions and bustling cities.

According to the report two intelligence sources also suggested that Pakistan had replaced Afghanistan as a center for terrorist activities and expressed frustration with the attempts of Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, to exert control over huge swaths of territory.

UNI XC SK AT RS2002