US strike on Qaeda leader seen as limited success

Abu Laith al-Libi

WASHINGTON, Saturday (Reuters) - The U.S. success in killing a top al Qaeda operative this week showed that cooperation with Pakistan can be fruitful but security analysts said there were limits to what the present strategy can achieve.

Analysts said the unmanned Predator air strike that apparently killed Abu Laith al-Libi in a remote area of Pakistan demonstrated that the United States has the military reach and intelligence sources to carry out a precision attack on a specific target with Pakistani consent.

But U.S. participation in a ground offensive against al Qaeda strongholds along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is unlikely. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has publicly opposed it and the Pakistani military may not be able to mount effective operations deep in tribal frontier regions.

“The arrangement that appears to have been reached between the United States and Pakistan is that it's OK to cooperate on targeted strikes against al Qaeda leaders,” said Seth Jones, a RAND Corp terrorism analyst who recently returned from the border region.

“But it's not OK at the moment for U.S. forces to try to clear and hold territory that is controlled by al Qaeda or al Qaeda related groups in Pakistan,” he said. Libi, whom Western officials described as a senior member of al Qaeda's global leadership and a top military commander in Afghanistan, appears to have been one of 13 foreign militants killed in Pakistan's North Waziristan border area.

An al Qaeda-linked Web site and Western authorities confirmed the death but did not discuss the circumstances. The Pentagon denied taking part in the attack. The CIA, which also flies Predator missions, declined to comment. The strike followed a push in recent weeks by U.S. officials to extend cooperation with Pakistan.