"We've had rewards out for Bin Laden for a long period of time, and economic motivation is not a principal driver of how they behave," he added.
M. Akram Shaheedi, the Pakistani spokesman in Washington, said the CIA should share whatever information it has on Bin Laden's whereabouts with the Islamabad government.
"Nobody knows where Osama bin Laden is, and if they do know where he is, they should let us know, and we will get him," Shaheedi said. "It is all wild guessing. Nobody knows where he is."
The three intelligence officials said Al Qaeda's command and control in Pakistan has been extremely successful recently both in planning operations and in franchising the Al Qaeda name to affiliates and sympathizers around the world. They cited the case of "Al Qaeda in the Maghreb," a group of Algerian militant organizations that has pledged allegiance to Bin Laden and has become more active in North Africa.
"They continue to maintain active connections and relationships that radiate outward from their leaders hiding in Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North and East Africa, and Europe," Fingar said at the hearing.
In his interview, Kringen said that despite the lack of intelligence about a specific plot, U.S. authorities were extremely concerned about the possibility of such a strike on U.S. soil. He said they were working closely with their British counterparts to pursue any connections to Al Qaeda in Pakistan and to the attempted car bombings at the end of June in Britain.
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josh.meyer@latimes.com
