KOLKATA — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Monday that al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri was still in Pakistan, more than a year after his predecessor Osama bin Laden was killed in the country.
Clinton, who is on a three-day visit to India, said the US has made “a lot of progress” in its bid to disable the al Qaeda terror network, as highlighted by the dramatic US Navy SEALs raid that took out bin Laden at his secret compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad last year.
But Clinton said, “There are several significant leaders still on the run. Zawahiri, who inherited the leadership from bin Laden, is somewhere, we believe, in Pakistan.”
The Egyptian cleric was bin Laden’s second-in-command and was believed to have taken the reins after the Abbottabad attack.
Pakistan’s foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, quickly responded to Clinton’s comments, telling lawmakers that Islamabad had “no information about the presence of al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri in Pakistan.”
Khar added, “If somebody has some proof about it, it should be shared with us so that we can look into the matter accordingly.”
Clinton also told her Indian audience that the US was committed to tracking down Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the Lashkar e Taiba militant group and suspected mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people.
Clinton confirmed that she authorized a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to his capture, adding, “It may take longer than we like, but we will stand with you and [are] trying to make that happen.”