Where are the Most Wanted Terrorists? In Pakistan

Three of the top 5 on America’s Most Wanted list of terrorists are in Pakistan. Furthermore, only one of them is in hiding. Bruce Riedel is a former CIA analyst, the former senior National Security Council official in the Clinton Administration, and is currently a fellow in a DC-based conservative think tank. He identifies the 3 top Most Wanted as follows.

Most Wanted #1, the one in hiding, is Ayman al-Zawahiri, the new head of Al Qaeda’s global terrorist empire, who has been hiding in Pakistan now for about 10 years. Although his whereabouts are unknown, he is fully functioning in his Al Qaeda role. In May, he released three new audio messages to Al Qaeda followers around the world.

Most Wanted #2 is Commander of the Faithful, as he likes to call himself. Mullah Omar is the Emir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the leader and founder of Taliban. The public may not be able to find him easily, but the military and the government can. Most Wanted #3 is Hafeez Saeed, the secret Emir of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. Of the three, he is the most visible: the polar opposite of hiding. He is on Pakistani TV almost every night, usually scoffing at the United States.

According to Reidel, Pakistan is host to more terrorists than any other country in the world—willingly or unwillingly.