Islamabad/Washington, May 28
After gunning down Osama bin Laden, the US has drawn up a list of five terrorists, including Al-Qaida’s second-in-command Ayman al Zawahiri, Mullah Omar and Illyas Kashmiri, on whom it expects Pakistan to provide intelligence immediately and possibly target them in joint operations, according to US officials.

The list was discussed during the three meetings between Pakistani and US officials in the past two weeks, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s talks with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad yesterday, ABCNews quoted a US official as saying. The list also includes commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operating chief of Haqqani network and Atiya Abdel Rahman, the Libyan operations chief of Al-Qaida, who had emerged as a key intermediary between bin Laden and Qaida’s affiliate networks across the world.

The US views the list as a test of whether Pakistan is “serious about fighting terrorists who have long enjoyed safe havens within its borders”, the report said. A US source, too, confirmed the existence of the list to the Dawn newspaper and said the US softening its position on unilateral action against terrorists found in Pakistan was conditional.

“The message given to Pakistani leaders was loud and clear: you either cooperate with us on these...terrorists or we’ll take care of them by ourselves,” the source was quoted as saying by the newspaper. Illyas Kashmiri has emerged as one of the most dangerous terrorists in recent years. He is a militant with international goals. Though the Pakistan Army officially denies it, Pakistani military officials admit he received military training. He long ago turned his sights against Pakistan.— PTI