CIA chief Leon Panetta recently unveiled that Osama Bin Laden is hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Panetta said that finding Bin Laden is 'one of our major priorities'. He said he's hopeful of further help from Pakistani military on this issue.US INTELLIGENCE CIA Director Leon Panetta said on Thursday (June 11) that the US intelligence agency believes that the al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan.
When the reporters asked him whether he was sure that Osama Bin Laden was in Pakistan, he said, “The last information we had, that's still the case.”
He is thought to be hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
Panetta said that finding Bin Laden is 'one of our major priorities'. One of our hopes is that the Pakistanis move in militarily, combined with our operations, we may be able to have a better chance to find the Al Qaeda leader, he said.
He also said that Al Qaeda 'remains the most serious security threat' to the United States and that the leaders of Al Qaeda, mainly in Pakistan, continue to plot against America.
Panetta said that the intelligence agency is also focusing on countries where Al Qaeda might find a safe haven, like Somalia and Yemen.
As a success story to the US, the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, has reported that militants are short of food, weapons and other supplies needed to fight foreign forces on a website used by the top al Qaeda leaders.
The website quoted: “In Afghanistan, we have a severe supply deficit.” “The main reason for the weakness in operations is insufficient supplies.” “Many mujahedeen sit and wait and cannot fight for lack of supplies.”
Al Qaeda is severely weakened in Afghanistan by the US-led forces.
It is a huge setback for America, as they still could not catch the most wanted Bin Laden, whom they have been hunting September 11, 2001, attacks. Bin Laden, on the other hand has been issuing audio and videotapes over the years to show that he is still alive.
Leon Panetta hopes a joint operation with Pakistani forces will enable CIA to find him.