Brown calls on Pakistan in hunt for Al Qaida

London: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Pakistan on Sunday to intensify the hunt for the leaders of Al Qaida, saying the world needs to refocus on the threat posed by the terror group.

In television interviews broadcast on Sunday, Brown said he wanted to see more progress in the search for Osama bin Laden and the group's second-in-command, Ayman Al Zawahiri.

"I believe that after eight years, we should have been able to do more, with all the Pakistani forces working together with the rest of the world, to get to the bottom of where Al Qaida is operating from," Brown told the BBC.

Brown's comments came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticised Pakistani officials for failing to press the hunt for Al Qaida during visit to Lahore last month. During an interview with Pakistani journalists, Clinton said she found it difficult to believe that no one in the Pakistani government knew where the group's leadership is hiding.

In Washington, a Senate report said Bin Laden was within the reach of US troops in December 2001, when he and some bodyguards walked out of Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains and into Pakistan's tribal area.

In an interview with Sky News, Brown said as international forces are making efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan must take action on their side of the border.

"We've seen a lot of progress over the last few months, moving into South Waziristan, taking on the Pakistan Taliban," he said. "But you know, people are going to ask, eight years after 2001 ... why is Osama Bin Laden never been near to being caught. We believe he is in Pakistan. Why is Al Zawahiri, who is the number two in control, never been caught? And what can the Pakistan authorities do that is far more effective to help us make sure that the Al Qaida threat is dealt with in Pakistan itself?

"We will want to see more evidence of Pakistan action - not just troops in South Waziristan - but the whole of the government machine taking action."