The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Washington

US military commanders operating in Afghanistan have sought permission to attack Pakistani militants hiding in tribal areas inside Pakistan, but so far have been denied it because of diplomatic considerations, The New York Times reported on its website.

Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said Saturday that senior officials in the administration of President George W. Bush fear that attacking Pakistani radicals may anger Pakistan's new government. Pakistani military operations in the tribal areas have slowed recently to avoid upsetting the negotiations between the country's government and the militants.

US intelligence officials believe the threat emanating from Pakistan's tribal areas is growing, and that Pakistani Islamist groups there are becoming an ally of Al-Qaeda in plotting attacks against Americans and their allies in Afghanistan, the report said.

In light of this, the US military's proposals included limited cross-border artillery strikes into Pakistan, missile attacks by Predator aircraft or raids by small teams of CIA paramilitary forces or Special Operations forces, the paper said. The list of potential targets, which has been discussed with US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson, included a group commanded by Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of the legendary militant leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, as well as the network led by Baitullah Mehsud that is believed to have been behind Benazir Bhutto's assassination, The Times said. But the question of attacking Pakistani militants was especially delicate because some militant leaders were believed to still be on the payroll of Pakistan's intelligence service, the report pointed out.

Another report adds: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Sunday visited Peshawar city in northwestern Pakistan, close to the Afghanistan border, for talks with new government leaders, officials said.

Miliband was scheduled to meet with provincial governor Owais Ghani and chief minister Amir Haider Hoti to discuss security issues and ongoing cooperation over development in Pakistan's tribal areas, they said. A new government comprising secular parties has replaced the Islamist-led government of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal which ruled the rugged and lawless North West Frontier Province between 2002-2007.

Earlier this month Britain's interior minster Jacqui Smith visited Pakistan and said that her country was urgently looking at ways to enhance anti-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan's new government.

Britain is providing development aid for Pakistan, especially in its troubled tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

The tribal belt is a known hideout for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

Pakistan became a key ally in the US-led "war on terror" under President Pervez Musharraf in 2001, but its policies against Islamic militancy have come under scrutiny since Musharraf's allies were trounced in the February polls.

Pakistan has suffered a wave of suicide bombings this year in which around 250 people have died. Former premier Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide blast and gun attack on December 27 last year.