Enviado: 18/3/2004 21:21Agora já temos a história no site da Fox:
Early reports suggested it may be Al Qaeda's No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri (search) but the person's identity remains uncertain.
Three senior Pakistani officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said intelligence indicated the Egyptian-born al-Zawahri has been cornered in an operation that began Tuesday in South Waziristan (search) involving hundreds of troops and paramilitary rangers.
"We have been receiving intelligence and information from our agents who are working in the tribal areas that al-Zawahri could be among the people hiding there," a military official said. "All of our efforts are to capture him."
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a U.S. counterterrorism official said: "It would appear that the Pakistanis have surrounded a very senior Al Qaeda figure, but at this point we are not certain who it is."
The United States has offered a $25 million reward for information leading to al-Zawahri's capture.
Mansoor Ijaz, Fox News' Foreign Affairs Analyst, reported that Pakistani intelligence sources said it is "highly probable that the high value target" that has been surrounded is either bin Laden or al-Zawahri.
Ijaz said capturing al-Zawahri would be "bigger than Usama bin Laden" because of his mastery in planning and coordinating deadly terrorist attacks and ability to link Al Qaeda cells around the world.
But Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir told Fox News that he had spoken over the phone with the commander of the operation in the area, and was told they were battling Chechen (search) resistance, not Arabs.
Mir said he had been in the area in recent days and had seen "a lot of dead bodies."
"I have talked to the commander," he said. "He said most of the people fighting are not Arabs, they are Chechens," adding that the Pakistani forces may have a Chechen leader cornered, not Al Qaeda chief Usama bin Laden or al-Zawahri.
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf (search) said in a television interview he had spoken with the commander of Pakistani troops in the region. He said the commander reported "fierce resistance" from a group of fighters entrenched in fort-like buildings and that there were indications that a senior figure was surrounded.
Early reports suggested it may be Al Qaeda's No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri (search) but the person's identity remains uncertain.
Three senior Pakistani officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said intelligence indicated the Egyptian-born al-Zawahri has been cornered in an operation that began Tuesday in South Waziristan (search) involving hundreds of troops and paramilitary rangers.
"We have been receiving intelligence and information from our agents who are working in the tribal areas that al-Zawahri could be among the people hiding there," a military official said. "All of our efforts are to capture him."
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a U.S. counterterrorism official said: "It would appear that the Pakistanis have surrounded a very senior Al Qaeda figure, but at this point we are not certain who it is."
The United States has offered a $25 million reward for information leading to al-Zawahri's capture.
Mansoor Ijaz, Fox News' Foreign Affairs Analyst, reported that Pakistani intelligence sources said it is "highly probable that the high value target" that has been surrounded is either bin Laden or al-Zawahri.
Ijaz said capturing al-Zawahri would be "bigger than Usama bin Laden" because of his mastery in planning and coordinating deadly terrorist attacks and ability to link Al Qaeda cells around the world.
But Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir told Fox News that he had spoken over the phone with the commander of the operation in the area, and was told they were battling Chechen (search) resistance, not Arabs.
Mir said he had been in the area in recent days and had seen "a lot of dead bodies."
"I have talked to the commander," he said. "He said most of the people fighting are not Arabs, they are Chechens," adding that the Pakistani forces may have a Chechen leader cornered, not Al Qaeda chief Usama bin Laden or al-Zawahri.
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf (search) said in a television interview he had spoken with the commander of Pakistani troops in the region. He said the commander reported "fierce resistance" from a group of fighters entrenched in fort-like buildings and that there were indications that a senior figure was surrounded.
