Cheney Pressures Pakistan To Stop Al Qaeda

Vice President Dick Cheney warned Monday that al Qaeda is regrouping in Pakistan's remote border area and sought President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's help in a reinvigorated push against Taliban and al Qaeda militants, Musharraf's office said.

The vice president made a surprise visit to Pakistan on Monday for talks with Musharraf on efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.

Cheney praised Pakistan's contribution in the war against terrorism but also "expressed U.S. apprehensions of regrouping of al Qaeda in the tribal areas and called for concerted efforts in countering the threat," Musharraf's office said.

The trip comes amid growing concern in Congress and the administration that terrorist forces are regrouping in the border area and preparing for a spring offensive in Afghanistan.

Cheney "expressed serious U.S. concerns on the intelligence being picked up of an impending Taliban and al Qaeda 'spring offensive' against allied forces in Afghanistan," Musharraf's office said.

"The Vice President's message to Pakistan was an effort to convey the frustrations of NATO commanders who are in charge of 34,000 troops from three dozen nations and are frustrated by the peace agreement negotiated by President Musharraf in North Waziristan," said CBS Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk, "and to sound the warning that a Democrat-led Congress is considering cutting aid."

The White House wants Pakistan to crack down on al Qaeda and Taliban operatives in the lawless border area with Afghanistan that President Bush recently said was "wilder than the Wild West."

Cheney himself made no public comment in Pakistan and soon left the country for Afghanistan, where he landed at the U.S. military base at Bagram for consultations with American commanders before a meeting with President Hamid Karzai.

Pakistani officials speaking after Cheney's meeting with Musharraf acknowledged the U.S. had conveyed a strong message, but said Washington continues to support the government. "It was a direct message. But we are nowhere near a breaking point in this relationship. Even friends can sometimes be blunt to each other," a Pakistani official told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari on condition of anonymity.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday the administration was concerned that al Qaeda was attempting to stage a comeback.

"I don't doubt that al Qaeda has tried to regenerate some of its leadership," Rice said on ABC's "This Week." "I don't doubt that. I don't think that anybody would claim that this is the same organization or the same kind of organization that operated out of Afghanistan.

"But we have to be vigilant, and that's why we are working with the Pakistanis, we are working with the Afghans, we're working worldwide in our intelligence network to continue to degrade this institution, this organization worldwide and on the Afghan border," the secretary said.

The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday that Mr. Bush has decided to send a tough message to Musharraf, warning him that the Democrat-controlled Congress may cut off funding to Pakistan unless it gets more aggressive in hunting down al Qaeda and Taliban operatives in its country.

The Times report did not mention Cheney's visit to Pakistan and it was not known if the vice president conveyed such a message to Musharraf.

But unnamed senior administration officials told the newspaper that Mr. Bush decided to take a tougher line with Pakistan after concluding that Musharraf is failing to follow through on commitments to maintain the hunt for militants that he made during a September visit to Washington.

M.J. Gohel, a terrorism expert and chief executive of the Asia-Pacific Foundation tells CBS News that the U.S. tried to lure Musharraf into helping combat terrorism with financial aide, but, "unfortunately, Gen. Musharraf has not taken that action."

Pakistan's border regions have long been suspected to be the hiding places for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri. Pakistan, an Islamic country, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of U.S. foreign aid.

However, Musharraf complains that Pakistan is being scapegoated for failures inside Afghanistan and contends that there is no evidence that bin Laden or the Taliban's Mullah Omar are on Pakistani soil.

Musharraf told Cheney that Pakistan "has done the maximum in the fight against terrorism" and that "joint efforts were needed for achieving the desired objectives," his office said.

Musharraf also defended a September peace deal in the North Waziristan tribal region. Critics say the deal effectively ceded the area to militants and some U.S. military officials say it was followed by a rise in attacks in Afghanistan.

The agreement, under which tribal leaders are supposed to curb militant activities, "is the way forward," Musharraf said, arguing that tribesmen are best turned against the militants by way of economic aid and political measures.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, earlier this month, traveled to Pakistan for talks with Musharraf, about the terrorist traffic across its border into Afghanistan. Recent sharp criticism of Pakistan's porous border has triggered angry denials from Musharraf.

Asked whether he had talked with Musharraf about the hunt for al Qaeda fugitive Osama bin Laden, Gates said he would not "get into specifics" about their talks.

But, said Gates, "If I were Osama bin Laden, I'd keep looking over my shoulder."