Friday, June 12, 2009 WASHINGTON: The CIA believes Osama bin Laden is still in Pakistan, and the spy agency is hoping to close in on him as that country's military cracks down on the northwestern tribal area where he is thought to be hiding.CIA Director Leon Panetta told reporters after a speech in Congress on Thursday that finding bin Laden remains one of the CIA's top priorities. ``I guess one of our hopes is that as Pakistani military moves in, combined with our operations, we may have a better chance to get at him,'' Panetta said.The CIA has increased the number of officers and recruited agents, or locals who provide information, in Pakistan, Panetta said. ``We have a number of people who are on the ground in Pakistan who are helping us provide targets and who are helping us provide the information that we really need to go after al-Qaida,'' he said. In Islamabad, a spokesman for President Asif Ai Zardari rejected Panetta's claim and challenged the CIA to hand over any evidence it has to back it up. ``There is no truth in this CIA statement. These are all rumors,'' presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told the news agency. ``Such statements keep coming, but if they know he is in Pakistan, then they should also know his exact location, and if they do, then why don't they share it with Pakistan?'' Babar said, referring to bin Laden.Panetta, meanwhile, said the Pakistani offensive in the Swat Valley is making very good progress compared to Pakistan's past efforts to crack down on extremists. The Pakistan military says it has killed more than 1,300 militants during the offensive and reclaimed most of the region.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
Comments