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CIA Chief Says Al-Qaeda Is Extending Its Reach

[New York Times] Mark Mazzetti - Even as al-Qaeda strengthens its hub in the Pakistani mountains, its leaders are building closer ties to regional militant groups in order to launch attacks in North Africa and Europe and on the Arabian Peninsula, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said Thursday. Hayden said Pakistan's tribal areas remained al-Qaeda's most significant operations base, giving militants a sanctuary to plan attacks on Western targets. "Today, virtually every major terrorist threat my agency is aware of has threads back to the tribal areas," he said. The CIA used to focus remotely piloted Predator aircraft attacks on a relatively small number of Arab fighters in the tribal areas, but it has begun striking Pakistani militant leaders as well as convoys bound for Afghanistan to resupply militant fighters there.
2008-11-14 01:00:00
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