CIA-sponsored Pakistani agents have infiltrated
the outer core of Al Qaeda in the high-gear American effort
to grab Osama bin Laden.
The Pakistani agents, who are joined by
Afghans and Uzbeks, are “beyond foot soldiers but
not in the inner circle.” These agents “are
more senior than the agents (the United States had) three
years ago, who were on the periphery,” a senior
intelligence official told Washington Post, according
to a report published Saturday.
US intelligence believes that Al Qaeda
today has a far less capable team than it had before the
9/11 attacks. However, Al Qaeda would “still want
to continue to attack us in the ways they did three years
ago,” the official said.
According to a CIA official, “We
have busted plots repeatedly” undertaken by “serious
Al Qaeda players” involving both aircraft and ships,
some in Northeast Asia, others in Southeast Asia. He said
intelligence on the possibility of other attacks had recently
been strong. “I wouldn’t characterise what
we have now as chatter. I think we have some fairly specific
information that Al Qaeda wants to come after us,”
he added.
