President
Bush on Saturday defended Pakistan's cooperation in the hunt for Osama
bin Laden despite the inability of U.S. and Pakistani troops to find
the al-Qaida leader who, Bush once declared, was wanted dead or alive.
The trail has gone cold in the more than three years since U.S. forces
toppled the Taliban, bin Laden's patrons in Afghanistan, after the
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Bin Laden, who masterminded the strikes, is
believed to be hiding in the wild mountainous region along the border
between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Oval Office meeting between Bush
and President Pervez Musharraf came just days after Pakistan's army
said it was pulling out of one important area along the border. Still,
Bush had nothing but praise for Pakistan and Musharraf as critical to
the search and the overall fight against terrorism. "His army has been
incredibly active and very brave in southern Waziristan flushing out an
enemy that had thought they had found safe haven," Bush said. [more]