Unabashed Mullen repeats safe havens mantra

Adm Mike Mullen said this during an unannounced visit to the NATO-led mission. He alleged that Pakistan was still a safe haven harbouring Al-Qaeda despite the death of Osama bin Laden at the beginning of May.Speaking to NATO TV, he said: Pakistan still is home to many terrorists and other terrorist organisations like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Haqqani network.And, clearly, those who live in Quetta come here with a goal of overturning the government of Afghanistan.Adm Mullen said he was confident that the transition would continue with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) working alongside Afghan counterparts.We recognise the challenges posed by the some of the recent spectacular attacks and assassinations. We are doing all we can with the Afghan security forces to prevent those in the future.We see a situation in the future where many of the Taliban leaders have either been taken off the battlefield or have returned to the safe havens in Pakistan. We see weakness in the Talibans tactics in some areas, he asserted.Adm Mullen also stressed that the withdrawal of 33,000 US troops - announced by President Obama in June - would not put the NATO-led mission at risk.