ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Despite a surge in arrests of Al Qaeda suspects, a senior Pakistani anti-terrorism official said investigators still had not found the trail of their main target, Osama bin Laden.
"You can only be sure you're closing in on someone when you at least have a hint of his whereabouts," Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema said in an interview last week. "With regard to Osama bin Laden himself, I would say that we are not getting any substantial leads as yet."
Cheema, head of the National Crisis Management Cell at the Interior Ministry, said Pakistan was "working hand in glove with the U.S. government" in a sweep that had netted more than a dozen suspects in the last two weeks. Among those detained was Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who had been indicted in the United States for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in East Africa.
Pakistani intelligence sources say FBI agents are playing a crucial role in tracking suspects by intercepting cellphone calls and other actions.
One source familiar with the investigation said Washington had stepped up pressure on Pakistani authorities to turn their latest leads into the capture of more high-level targets before the U.S. presidential election in November.
Bush administration officials have warned that intelligence indicates Al Qaeda may be planning an attack before the election.
"The next month and a half is absolutely crucial," said the Pakistani source, who spoke on condition that he not be identified because his superiors had not approved the interview. "The way the Americans are pressuring Pakistan, they want Osama bin Laden."
Bush administration officials have denied U.S. media reports that the United States was pressuring Pakistan to capture or kill Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda fugitives before the election. National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack told the New Republic, which published one such account, that U.S. policy on pursuing those fugitives was unchanged by the election schedule.
Last month's capture of Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, a 25-year-old Pakistani computer specialist suspected of operating an information hub for Al Qaeda, set off the latest wave of arrests, including 13 in Britain. U.S. investigators are pursuing leads based on his computer files.
A Western diplomat confirmed reports that laptop computers and dozens of computer disks contained surveillance reports and apparent plans for attacks in the United States.
