Karachi, Dec 23: The al Qaeda terror outfit of Osama bin Laden is "down but not out" in Pakistan, and may be regrouping here despite several recent arrests during the crackdown on extremism, a senior police officer has warned. Fayyaz Leghari, the chief of Karachi's police investigation department, acknowledged that al Qaeda members were hiding throughout the Islamic Republic.
"They are on the run and may be using Pakistan as transit," Leghari told a news agency late yesterday. "They may take time regrouping. They are certainly down, but not out." "I believe they feel they are not safe here," he added.

Karachi was the site Thursday of a major explosion which demolished a suspected militants' explosives warehouse and killed Pakistan's most-wanted man, the extremist Asif Ramzi.

Ramzi, who has been linked by police to al Qaeda, was wanted for involvement in the murder early this year of wall street journal journalist Daniel Pearl, as well as the June suicide bombing outside the us embassy here which killed 12 Pakistanis.


"There are very few terrorists of his magnitude.

Bureau Report