Is al-Qaeda present in Pakistan? The debate was initiated by Lieutenant General Dan McNeill, commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan making an affirmative statement, which was denied by Moinuddin Haider, the Interior Minister of Pakistan and Aziz Ahmed Khan, Foreign Office Spokesman (‘Govt refutes US claims about al-Qaeda presence,’ The News, 20 August 2002).

     The News, in its editorial (‘Beyond al-Qaeda,’ 20 August 2002) criticized the “American obsession with al-Qaeda and Talibanâ€Â