U.S. Aids Security of Musharraf

After two recent assassination attempts that bear the markings of al Qaeda, the U.S. government is stepping up efforts aimed at protecting Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and urging him to crack down further on Islamic terrorism groups, U.S. officials said. The United States had sent electronic jamming devices that helped foil the first attempt on Musharraf by interfering with the detonation of explosives, officials said. Since the attacks, U.S. officials have increased intelligence sharing and other efforts to help Musharraf’s security forces, although the United States is not providing bodyguards, a step taken to safeguard Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. FBI officials in Pakistan are helping to investigate the attacks on Musharraf. Musharraf’s longevity and the stability and cooperation of Pakistan, the world’s most politically fragile nuclear power, are critical to the U.S. campaign to capture or kill Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda operatives. U.S. military and intelligence officials believe bin Laden and other al Qaeda members are hiding along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Musharraf has positioned himself as an ally of the United States in its war on terrorists. Full Story