Senior Pakistani officials told Financial Times that Central Intelligence Agency chief George Tenet made a secret trip to Pakistan this month to share information about previously undetected mountainous routes along the Afghan border used by member of Al Qaida.
The disclosure of the visit, which neither the US nor Pakistan has officially confirmed, comes in the wake of reports that Osama bin Laden, believed to be the brain behind the September 11 attacks, is trapped and likely to be captured soon.
One unnamed Pakistani official quoted in the report said Tenet's information is the basis of renewed operations in the mountainous areas bordering Afghanistan.
"There's a major effort underway to locate Al Qaida leaders," he said. "The importance of George Tenet's visit in this connection cannot be underestimated."
Tenet reportedly spent a day in Islamabad discussing Pakistan's handling of the probe into the transfer of nuclear technology by renegade scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan to Libya, North Korea and Iran.
Troops are already deployed along the Afghan border, especially in the Waziristan area near the Durand Line, which demarcates Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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