George Bush arrives in Britain with Bin Laden demand

President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House.

As Mr Bush arrived in Britain today on the final leg of his eight-day farewell tour of Europe, defence and intelligence sources in Washington and London confirmed that a renewed hunt was on for the leader of the September 11 attacks. “If he [Bush] can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured Bin Laden, he can claim to have left the world a safer place,” said a US intelligence source.

The Special Boat Service (SBS) and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment have been taking part in the US-led operations to capture Bin Laden in the wild frontier region of northern Pakistan. It is the first time they have operated across the Afghan border on a regular basis.

The hunt was “completely sanctioned” by the Pakistani government, according to a UK special forces source. It involves the use of Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles fitted with Hellfire missiles that can be used to take out specific terrorist targets.

One US intelligence source compared the “growing number of clandestine reconnaissance missions” inside Pakistan with those conducted in Laos and Cambodia at the height of the Vietnam war.

America rarely acknowledges the use of Predator and Reaper drones, but the most recent known strike was on a suspected al-Qaeda safe house in the Pakistani province of North Waziristan earlier in June. Villagers said the house was empty.

Intelligence on the whereabouts of Bin Laden is sketchy, but some analysts believe he is in the Bajaur tribal zone in northwest Pakistan. He has evaded capture for nearly seven years. “Bush is swinging for the fences in the hope of scoring a home run,” said an intelligence source, using a baseball metaphor.

A Pentagon source said US forces were rolling up al-Qaeda’s network in Pakistan in the hope of pushing Bin Laden towards the Afghan border, where the US military and bombers with guided missiles were lying in wait. “They are prepping for a major battle,” he said.

The main operations in Pakistan are being undertaken by Delta, the US army special operations unit, and the British SBS.

Special forces are being sent to capture or kill al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters based on intelligence provided by the Special Reconnaissance Regiment and its US counterpart, the Security Co-ordination Detachment.

The step-up in military activity has increased tensions between Pakistan and the US. A senior Pakistani government source said President Pervez Musharraf had given tacit support to Predator attacks on al-Qaeda.

Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said last week that the US would “partner [the Pakistanis] to the extent they want us to” to combat insurgents.
Pakistan lodged a strong diplomatic protest last week over what it claimed was an airstrike on a border post with Afghanistan that killed 11 of its troops. The United States declined to accept this version of events. “It is still not exactly clear what happened,” said Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser.

Mr Bush enjoyed afternoon tea with the Queen after touching down in the UK amid tight security. Air Force One landed at Heathrow Airport at around 1.55pm ahead of two days of meetings with Her Majesty, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

The US leader and his wife Laura sat down with the Monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh for the informal gathering in the lavish setting of Windsor Castle.

He is the first President to be hosted at the Royal residence since Ronald Regan was pictured riding at Windsor in June 1982. The Queen last met Mr Bush during her state visit to the US in March last year, when the President winked at her after making one of his most famous gaffes.

While delivering a speech on the lawns of the White House he fluffed the date of his country’s bicentenary and, as the crowd laughed, turned to the Sovereign and winked and then quipped: “She gave me a look that only a mother could give a child”.

The Royal party were joined for tea by Robert Tuttle, America’s ambassador for Britain, and his wife Maria. The group enjoyed traditional English afternoon fayre of tea, small sandwiches and cakes.

It is not known who played ’mother’, although the Duke has been known to pour tea for his guests.

A significant security operation is in place for Mr Bush’s visit and armed police and sniffer dogs were patrolling Heathrow Airport earlier. The Stop The War Coalition is planning to stage a series of protests at venues Mr Bush will visit in a bid to make their views known one last time before he leaves the world stage.

The Metropolitan Police said they would have a thousand officers deployed on the streets of London on each day of the tour to maintain order.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison said: “We accept people’s right to protest and we will do everything we can to facilitate that. But the important point is it needs to be lawful protest and given that this is a security operation those people who step beyond the boundaries of lawful and get into an area where it’s unlawful and there is a danger around security, then obviously we will take action.”

The talks between Mr Bush and Mr Brown tomorrow are expected to cover the continuing world economic crisis, rising fuel and food prices, and attempts to get the oil producing countries to step up production to ease the oil price.

The US leader will also have a meeting with Tony Blair in his role as Middle East representative for the Quartet - UN, EU, Russian Federation and US.

Mrs Bush will follow her own itinerary, visiting the Charles Dickens Museum in London and touring the Afghani and Burmese collections at the British Museum.