US security official warns Qaeda regrouping in Pak tribal areas

Lahore, July 5 : A senior US security official has reportedly said that Al Qaeda was regrouping itself in tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said that he feared Al Qaeda and other militant organisations could resume their activities after turning the Pakistani Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan into their centre.

He said Pakistan was so far not a safe haven for Al Qaeda as was Afghanistan at one time, but neither the US nor Pakistan should remain indifferent to the problem.

"Our biggest apprehension is that Al Qaeda and the likes have the ability to secure such safe havens where not only can they train the recruits but also establish research centres and then use these areas in the attacks against the West," the Daily Times quoted him as saying in an interview with BBC.

The reorganisation of Al Qaeda and the similar groups in Pakistan was not only a source of apprehension for the US, but also for its European allies and added that Pakistani authorities must also be concerned.

ANI