CIA: Finding bin Laden top U.S. priority

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 12 (UPI) -- Finding al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, believed still in hiding in Pakistan, remains a top priority for the United States, CIA Director Leon Panetta said.

Panetta told reporters the United States has people in Pakistan "who are helping us provide targets," the BBC reported Friday.

Pakistan's military operation against Taliban militants will improve the chances of locating bin Laden, believed to be hiding out in the rugged region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Panetta said.

The U.S and Afghan governments have long thought al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are hiding in one of the militant safe havens in Pakistan's tribal areas, the British broadcaster reported.

Pakistani forces in recent days targeted militant strongholds in areas adjacent to the Waziristan region, which U.S. officials have described as "the most dangerous place on earth."