February 26, 2007

Unannounced trip

Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip to Pakistan on Monday to deliver what officials in Washington described as an unusually tough message to General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, warning him that the new Democratic Congress could cut aid to his country unless his forces become far more aggressive in hunting down operatives of Al Qaeda. Cheney's trip was shrouded in secrecy, and he was on the ground for only a few hours, sharing a private lunch with the Pakistani leader at his palace. Cheney traveled with the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Steve Kappes, an indication that the conversations probably included discussion of American contentions that Qaeda camps have been reconstituted along the border of Afghanistan.

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