US hands over list of five terrorists to Pak: Report

Islamabad: The US has handed over to Pakistan a list of five terrorists, seeking immediate intelligence information on them. It reportedly also expects Pakistan to possibly target these terrorists in joint operations.

The list was discussed during two meetings between Pakistani and US officials in the past two weeks, and also during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's talks with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad yesterday, ABC News quoted a US official as saying.

The list includes Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al Zawahiri, Ilyas Kashmiri and Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar. It also includes commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operating chief of Haqqani network and Atiya Abdel Rahman, the Libyan operations chief of Al Qaeda, who had emerged as a key intermediary between bin Laden and Qaeda'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 ABC report said.

An American source also 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.

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"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.