US spy chief, security adviser meet Pakistanis after failed Times Square bomb attack

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Top US security officials meet in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — The CIA director met Pakistani security officials Wednesday to discuss the failed Times Square bombing and the fight against militants in havens close to Afghanistan where the suspect is alleged to have received training.

The May 1 botched car bombing has added to pressure on Pakistan to attack militant-held regions in the northwest. A Pakistani-born American who allegedly trained with the Pakistani Taliban in the Waziristan region has been arrested in the failed New York bombing.

The visit by CIA Director Leon Panetta and U.S. national security adviser James Jones was the first since the incident. The two men met with President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday afternoon, said presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar. They were also scheduled to meet with Pakistan’s spy chief and other officials.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said Tuesday that in light of the New York failed attack “we believe that it is time to redouble our efforts with our allies in Pakistan to close this safe haven and create an environment where we and the Pakistani people can lead safe and productive lives.”

U.S. officials have recently praised Pakistan’s efforts in the northwest.

The Pakistani Taliban, which have previously not conducted attacks on U.S. soil, have been the target of several Pakistani army offensives over the last two years and been battered by scores of American missile strikes. They are allied to al-Qaida and the Afghan Taliban just across the border.

But the army has not moved into the North Waziristan region, in part because powerful insurgent commanders there have generally not attacked targets in Pakistan and the army is unwilling to antagonize them. In recent months, however, fleeing fighters and commanders from the Pakistani Taliban — which have launched scores of bloody suicide attacks around the country since 2007 — have moved there.