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Find Bin Laden, PM tells Pakistan Find Bin Laden, PM tells Pakistan
(about 2 hours 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.
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.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.
He said he wanted to see "more progress in taking out" Bin Laden and his second-in-command Ayman Zawahiri.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.
BBC World Affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge said this was not a new claim.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.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 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.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.
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".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".
The prime minister said Pakistan had made progress against the Taliban in south Waziristan.The prime minister said Pakistan had made progress against the Taliban in south Waziristan.
We want to see more progress in taking out these two people at the top of al Qaida Gordon Brown Bin Laden was 'within US grasp' Brown's tough tone on AfghanistanWe want to see more progress in taking out these two people at the top of al Qaida Gordon Brown Bin Laden was 'within US grasp' 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. 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." Pakistan had 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.
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.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.
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." The prime minister told the BBC that over eight "we should have been able to do more ... to get to the bottom of where al-Qaeda is operating from".
'Political surge''Political surge'
Progress had been made he said, but Pakistan had to make sure that "in South Waziristan we are taking on al-Qaeda directly".Progress had been made he said, but Pakistan had to make sure that "in South Waziristan we are taking on al-Qaeda directly".
"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. "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.
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". Later Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Britain wanted Pakistan to "join us in upping our game" in tackling terrorism on its border with Afghanistan.
He said other issues concerning education and unemployment made up a climate which "feeds dissent" and the Pakistani authorities had to deal with these. We have carried out two very big military operations at enormous cost to the country Wajid Shamsul HasanPakistan's High Commissioner
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. "We know that the Pakistani authorities, as the prime minister said, are taking big losses in their drive against the so-called Pakistan Taliban... we recognise that."
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 said it was "right that we recognise that stability in Afghanistan requires stability in Pakistan too and that requires a combined effort."
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." "We've all got to do more, Pakistan has got to do more, Afghanistan has got to do more and the international community has got to do more, but we've also got to do better."
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." Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox told BBC1's Politics Show that Pakistan faced economic and political problems and its army did not "really have the capabilities for the sort of anti-terrorist counter-insurgency measures that we want".
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. "The international community has to give Pakistan a lot of help if Pakistan is to fulfil the role we want it to do," he said.
And Edward Davey, for the Liberal Democrats, said: "The real questions are, why hasn't this happened before and because it hasn't, why is it suddenly going to happen now?
"This looks more like wishful thinking than a new well considered strategy"
Pakistan's High Commissioner in London, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend: "We are doing what we could. We have carried out two very big military operations at enormous cost to the country."
He added: "The people of Pakistan want its allies to do more. If you provide us with equipment and expertise we will be able to be more successful - we are successful, but more successful - in tracking down al-Qaeda leadership."