Better intelligence needed on terror groups inside Pak: US

8220;There are gaps in intelligence,8221; Dailey said during a breakfast meeting with reporters.

8220;We don8217;t have enough information about what8217;s going on there. Not on al-Qaida. Not on foreign fighters. Not on the Taliban.8221; Dailey, a retired Army lieutenant general with an extensive background in special operations, said the lack of information makes him 8220;uncomfortable.8221; Yet the solution to the problem rests mainly with the Pakistanis, he said, who probably would consider too much US involvement as an unwelcome intrusion.

8220;We have to be careful conducting operations in a sovereign country, particularly one that8217;s a friend of ours and one that has given us a lot of support,8221; Dailey said.

8220;The blowback would be pretty serious.8221; Bush administration officials have been discussing expansion beyond small teams of US military trainers and advisers now in Pakistan.

Overall, fewer than 100 American military personnel are in the country. Local groups in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, who are willing to battle al-Qaida, would be given special emphasis under a broader programme of support.