Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday the United States believed that the new chief of al-Qaeda Ayman al-Zawahiri was in Pakistan and she vowed to keep up pressure on Islamabad to find other "most-wanted" militants.
"We want to disable al-Qaeda. There are several significant leaders still on the run. Zawahiri, who inherited the leadership from bin Laden is somewhere, we believe, in Pakistan. You have to go over those who are trying to kill you. You have to be focused on that," India's NDTV quoted her as saying during an interaction with the public in the country's eastern city of Kolkata.
Egypt-born surgeon Zawahiri, who was second-in-command in the global terror outfit, succeeded Osama bin Laden after he was killed by U.S. Special Forces in a helicopter-borne attack on his fortified hideout in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2, 2011.
Three of the top five most-wanted militants by the United States are believed to be in Pakistan, including the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar. Clinton said she also appreciated sacrifices made by Pakistan, saying that it was the main victim of violence by extremists.
Referring to the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people, including foreigners, were killed by a ten-member gang of Pak terrorists, Clinton said she had authorized an award for Hafiz Saeed who was responsible for attacks in Mumbai.
Hafiz Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, is accused of masterminding the Mumbai terror attacks. The U.S. last month announced an award of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed and $2 million for Hafiz Adbul Rahman Makki, under the Rewards for Justice program, for information on the two terrorists.
"It may take longer than we like but we will stand with you and trying to make that happen," said Clinton who is on a three-day India visit that began on Sunday.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.