ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. officials, said to be critical of major news leaks, are reportedly demanding an upgrading of some Pakistani intelligence operations.
CBS News says the U.S. military has been routinely withholding word from Pakistani authorities on border attacks targeting al-Qaida and Taliban suspects.
The reason given is a fear the information could be leaked to militants, a high-level European defense official in Islamabad said.
The Bush administration is said to demand a comprehensive revamping of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency before resuming full intelligence cooperation, the CBS report said.
In the most recent example, U.S. officials reportedly withheld for hours the death in an American missile strike in Pakistan's Waziristan border region of Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, a leading al-Qaida chemical and biological weapons expert. The possibility of news leaks was given as the reason, CBS News said.
