Pakistan cooperates with Bin Laden hunt after pressure from Clinton

WASHINGTON -- Pakistan is increasing cooperation with the U.S. hunt for Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden after President Clinton pressed the government during his recent visit.

U.S. officials said Pakistani authorities have stepped up their alert in airports and border crossings and are checking travelers whether they match descriptions of Bin Laden or his associates. The result has been the arrest of several Arab nationals linked to the man accused of masterminding the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in east Africa.

The latest arrest was that of Hamama Kamal, regarded as a close aid of Bin Laden. U.S. officials said Kamal was captured as he tried to move through Pakistan on his way to Tunis, according to a report by Middle East Newsline.

Kamal, the officials said, was captured on a false passport in Rome. Italian authorities found his passport suspicious and sent him back to Karachi, where he was arrested. The FBI was alerted and agents identified Kamal as a senior member of Bin Laden's Al Qaida group.

Islamabad began increasing cooperation in March in wake of the visit by President Bill Clinton, officials said. They said Clinton stressed the importance of Pakistani cooperation in the capture of Bin Laden and the effects this would have on relations between Washington and Islamabad.

The Pakistan government officials had resisted efforts to capture Bin Laden who is a popular figure for many Pakistanis. Critics of the U.S. strike targeting Bin Laden in retaliation for the 1998 bombings have said it was a "wag the dog" tactic to divert attention from the president's scandals.

Clinton -- whose administration has requested an extra $300 million for counterterrorism programs -- was said to have told Pakistani officials that Bin Laden was behind the plot to bomb tourist sites in Jordan during millennium celebrations. On Wednesday, Clinton blamed Bin Laden for masterminding the failed bombing campaign in the first public attribution of blame. Thirteen suspects have been captured in the plot and are being tried in Amman.

"Last December, working with Jordan, we shut down a plot to place large bombs at locations where Americans might gather on New Year's Eve,'' Clinton said. "We learned this plot was linked to terrorist camps in Afghanistan and the organization created by Osama Bin Laden, the man responsible for the 1998 bombings of our embassy in Tanzania and Kenya which cost the lives of Americans and hundreds of Africans."

The officials said Clinton's appeal to the Pakistanis seems to have pushed them into action. The arrests in Pakistan were made in cooperation with FBI agents now based in Pakistan and monitoring Bin Laden's movements in neighboring Afghanistan.

Officials said Kamal was sent by Bin Laden to revive Qaida cells in Europe and maintain support for the beleaguered group. Kamal has told interrogators he faked his identity in an attempt to escape Bin Laden and start a new life.

The arrest of Kamal is said to be a major achievement in the efforts to capture Bin Laden. Kamal is said to have intimate knowledge of Bin Laden and his whereabouts.