Pak rejects reports on US covert operations
{image-pak flag with dif_06012008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Rawalpindi, Jan 6: The Pakistan Government has rejected reports that the Bush Administration is planning to grant more freedom to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to carry out US covert operations in its tribal region, saying that the US has no authority to take such decisions, as the Pakistan Government is responsible for security in the country.
“Such
reports
are
baseless
and
we
reject
them," a
foreign
news
agency
quoted
Chief
military
spokesman
Major
General
Waheed
Arshad,
as
saying.
Arshad
said
that
there
are
no
overt
or
covert
US
operations
being
carried
out
inside
Pakistan,
The
News
reported.
He
also
dismissed
US
presidential
hopeful
Hillary
Clinton
comment
that
if
she
were
elected
President,
she
would
propose
a
joint
US-British
team
to
oversee
the
security
of
Pakistan's
nuclear
arsenal.
“We do not require anybody's assistance. We are fully capable of doing it on our own," Arshad said.
According to the New York Times' reports, the Bush Administration may give more freedom to the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct clandestine operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
Senior national security advisers of President George W Bush are arguing whether to expand the CIA"s authority, especially after intelligence inputs that the al Qaeda and the Taliban are intensifying their efforts in the tribal areas of Pakistan in order to destabilize the Musharraf regime, according to the New York Times.
On Friday, Vice President Dick Cheney, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Bush"s top national security advisers met at the White House to discuss the matter that is said to be “a broad reassessment of the US strategy", 10 days after the assassination of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto.
They
also
discussed
“how
to
handle
the
period
from
now
to
the
February
18
elections,
and
the
aftermath
of
those
elections."