WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD, 13 January 2007 — Pakistan yesterday rejected claims that the Al-Qaeda terror network is strengthening and building worldwide connections from safe havens in the South Asian country.

Pakistan’s denial comes after comments made by US intelligence chief John Negroponte during hearings with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

In an unusually direct statement on the whereabouts of the militant group’s top echelon, Negroponte said that Pakistan is the center of a web of Al-Qaeda connections that stretches across the globe and into Europe. He said that Al-Qaeda poses the gravest terrorist threat to the United States and an emboldened Hezbollah is a growing danger, the US intelligence chief said Thursday.

“Al-Qaeda is the terrorist organization that poses the greatest threat to US interests,” the US director of national intelligence said in his annual assessment of worldwide threats against the United States and its interests. “They are cultivating stronger operational connections and relationships that radiate outward from their leaders’ secure hide-out in Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe,” he said.

Pakistani officials responded by saying that if the US is aware of a formidable terrorist network center of control in Pakistan, it has not shared this intelligence. “We are open to further intelligence sharing,” Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao told a press conference after meeting yesterday with US Undersecretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher, who was in Pakistan for talks. “If the US government would provide to us names of wanted suspects we would take necessary action.”

Rejecting the US intelligence chief’s accusations, Islamabad said yesterday it remains committed to fighting international terrorism and extremism.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Negroponte’s claim that Pakistan represents a major source of extremism and a refuge for top terror leaders is “incorrect.”

“In breaking the back of Al-Qaeda, Pakistan has done more than any other country in the world,” the statement said.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry described the comments as “questionable criticism” and urged Negroponte to acknowledge the country’s role in fighting Al-Qaeda, responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

The ministry said Pakistan had done more than any other country to fight terrorism, a feat that had been recognized by the White House and the international community.

“Pakistan remains committed to fighting international terrorism and extremism. In this endeavor, the focus must always remain on cooperation instead of questionable criticism,” the ministry said.

Pakistan said although Al-Qaeda elements were active in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, “it would be incorrect to link them to any remnants of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.”

“When Mr. Negroponte mentions the capture and killing of hundreds of Al-Qaeda members since 9/11, he should acknowledge the efforts of the country that made this possible,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.

Pakistan would continue to pursue Al-Qaeda remnants as well as other terrorists and extremist elements, the statement said.