WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is making plans for an offensive that would reach inside Pakistan in coming months to try to destroy operations of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, the Chicago Tribune reports.
The newspaper, in a report from Washington citing military sources, said the plans involved thousands of U.S. troops, some of them already in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The Pakistani government denied to Reuters that it would allow such an operation and the Pentagon declined to confirm that such a plan was being worked on.
The Chicago Tribune said the plans were advanced but their execution would depend on events on the ground.
This was "not like a contingency plan for North Korea, something that sits on a shelf. This planning is like planning for Iraq. They want this plan to be executable -- now," one source was quoted as saying.
Such an intervention would be political dynamite for Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who has only allowed a very limited U.S. military presence in his country. He has cooperated with Washington against al Qaeda but is under pressure from Islamic parties at home.
The newspaper said the U.S. plans were driven partly by concerns over two assassination attempts last month against Musharraf, whose cooperation has been vital to U.S. anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and who is seen in Washington as a force for stability in the volatile region.
The plans were also prompted by a resurgence of attacks by the Taliban, which governed Afghanistan and harboured al Qaeda leaders until it was driven from power in a 1991 U.S.-led invasion.
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http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=447920§ion=news
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