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Brown warns Pakistan on al-Qaeda Find Bin Laden, PM tells Pakistan
(about 1 hour later)
Gordon Brown has told the BBC that Pakistan must do more to "break" al-Qaeda and find Osama Bin Laden.Gordon Brown has told the BBC that Pakistan must do more to "break" al-Qaeda and find Osama Bin Laden.
Eight years after the 2001 attacks on the US, nobody had been able "to spot or detain or get close to" the al-Qaeda leader, the prime minister said. Questions must be asked about why nobody had been able "to spot or detain or get close to" the al-Qaeda leader, the prime minister said.
Pakistan's security services must join fully in the "major effort" to isolate the terrorist group, he warned. He said he wanted to see "more progress in taking out" Bin Laden and his second-in-command Ayman Zawahiri.
Meanwhile, a Senate report claims US forces had Bin Laden "within their grasp" in Afghanistan in late 2001.Meanwhile, a Senate report claims US forces had Bin Laden "within their grasp" in Afghanistan in late 2001.
But it says calls for US reinforcements were rejected and Bin Laden was able to escape into Pakistan's unregulated tribal areas. BBC World Affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge said this was not a new claim.
However, he said, staff working for the Democratic majority on the Foreign Relations Committee now claimed to have evidence that in December 2001 US military power was kept on the sidelines while Bin Laden escaped "unmolested" into Pakistan's unregulated tribal areas.
Air strikesAir strikes
The report, prepared by the Foreign Relations Committee Democratic staff, says US commanders chose to rely on air strikes and "untrained Afghan militias" to pursue Bin Laden in the mountainous Tora Bora area. The report comes days before US President Barack Obama is due to announce additional US troops for Afghanistan - Mr Brown is to announce whether conditions have been met to send an extra 500 British troops.
In interviews on Sunday, Mr Brown said progress had been made against the Taliban in south Waziristan by Pakistan's government. Speaking in a BBC interview, the prime minister said that if so much effort was going into building up security in Afghanistan, Pakistan had "to be able to show that it can take on al-Qaeda".
We want to see more progress in taking out these two people at the top of al Qaida Gordon Brown class="" href="/2/hi/americas/8384897.stm">Bin Laden was 'within US grasp' The prime minister said Pakistan had made progress against the Taliban in south Waziristan.
But he told the BBC: "We've got to ask ourselves why, eight years after September the 11th, nobody has been able to spot or detain or get close to Osama bin Laden, nobody's been able to get close to [Ayman] Zawahiri, the number two in al-Qaeda. We want to see more progress in taking out these two people at the top of al Qaida Gordon Brown class="" href="/2/hi/americas/8384897.stm">Bin Laden was 'within US grasp' class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/8384478.stm">Brown's tough tone on Afghanistan
But he told the BBC: "We've got to ask ourselves why, eight years after September the 11th, nobody has been able to spot or detain or get close to Osama bin Laden, nobody's been able to get close to Zawahiri, the number two in al-Qaeda.
"And we've got to ask the Pakistan authorities, security services, army and politicians to join us in the major effort that the world is committing resources to, and that is not only to isolate al-Qaeda, but to break them in Pakistan.""And we've got to ask the Pakistan authorities, security services, army and politicians to join us in the major effort that the world is committing resources to, and that is not only to isolate al-Qaeda, but to break them in Pakistan."
He said he would be talking to Pakistan's leaders to say, if the international community is putting so much effort into building up Afghanistan to control its own affairs "then Pakistan has got to be able to show that it can take on al-Qaeda". Pakistan's prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, will meet Mr Brown at Downing Street on Thursday. Mr Brown informed Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari by telephone that he intended to speak out about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
He said the terrorist network posed a "continuing threat", adding: "I believe that after eight years, we should have been able to do more, with all the Pakistani forces working together with the rest of the world, to get to the bottom of where al-Qaeda is operating from." The prime minister said: "I believe that after eight years, we should have been able to do more, with all the Pakistani forces working together with the rest of the world, to get to the bottom of where al-Qaeda is operating from."
'Political surge''Political surge'
He added that, eight years on, "we want ... to see more progress in taking out these two people at the top of al-Qaeda, who have done so much damage and are clearly the brains behind many of the operations aimed at Britain". Progress had been made he said, but Pakistan had to make sure that "in South Waziristan we are taking on al-Qaeda directly".
In a separate interview with Sky News, Mr Brown said Britain was prepared to help "rebuild the education system in Pakistan" where, he said, propaganda in madrassas - Islamic schools or colleges - and ordinary schools was "supportive of extremist action". "We want, after eight years, to see more progress in taking out these two people at the top of al Qaeda, who have done so much damage and are clearly the brains behind many of the operations that have hit Britain," said Mr Brown.
But he said other issues concerning education and unemployment made up a climate which "feeds dissent" and the Pakistani authorities had to deal with these. In a separate interview with Sky News, he said Britain was prepared to help "rebuild the education system in Pakistan" where, he said, propaganda in madrassas - Islamic schools or colleges - and ordinary schools was "supportive of extremist action".
He said other issues concerning education and unemployment made up a climate which "feeds dissent" and the Pakistani authorities had to deal with these.
On Saturday the prime minister said Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai would be expected to make commitments on training up Afghan troops and tackling corruption, at a conference in London in January.On Saturday the prime minister said Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai would be expected to make commitments on training up Afghan troops and tackling corruption, at a conference in London in January.
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said it was "vital ... to match this military surge with a political surge" - and that was the thinking behind the London conference. Meanwhile, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said it was "vital ... to match this military surge with a political surge" - and that was the thinking behind the London conference.
But he played down reports that British troops could be home by Christmas 2010: "The speed at which British troops can come home, is dictated by the speed at which Afghan forces can step up." He played down reports that British troops could be home by Christmas 2010: "The speed at which British troops can come home, is dictated by the speed at which Afghan forces can step up."
He told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "I think the right attitude is not to have an end date, but an end state, in mind - we want Afghan forces to be able to protect their own country."He told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "I think the right attitude is not to have an end date, but an end state, in mind - we want Afghan forces to be able to protect their own country."
But if Afghan forces were increased from 90,000 to 134,000 - as they hope to achieve in the next year - that would be a "significant step on the road to Afghanistan being able to provide its own security for its own people," he went on. If Afghan forces were increased from 90,000 to 134,000 - as they hope to achieve in the next year - that would be a "significant step on the road to Afghanistan being able to provide its own security for its own people," he went on.