U.S. officials warn citizens to stay away from Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- A former Taliban commander says Islamic militants led by al-Qaida want to strike quickly against American interests in Pakistan in retaliation for the death sentence in the Daniel Pearl murder case and the ongoing crackdown on Muslim extremists.

Fazul Rabi Said-Rahman, once the top Taliban military commander in eastern Afghanistan, said it was important to the militants to act quickly because Pakistani security forces were stepping up pressure on Taliban and al-Qaida members who fled the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan.

"There will be another big attack in Pakistan, and it will happen soon," he told The Associated Press in an interview conducted Friday in a moving vehicle in this Pakistani city 40 miles from the Afghan border.

Said-Rahman predicted the attack would be carried out by Pakistani militants at the instructions of al-Qaida operatives.

But he would not discuss details except to say the attack would be carried out in a Pakistani city.

The warning was similar to one he conveyed less than three weeks before the June 14 car-bombing at the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, which killed at least 12 Pakistanis.

His associate, Obeidullah, a former assistant to Taliban intelligence chief Qari Ahmadullah, also had spoken of an upcoming attack shortly before the May 8 car bombing in Karachi that resulted in the deaths of 11 French engineers and three others, including the bomber.