New York: Three Pakistani military officers were arrested in early September for suspected links with al- Qaida, a media report said on September 21 quoting Pakistani military intelligence.

All the three were below the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, 'TIME' magazine reported quoting the sources.

Two of the officers were based in the tribal areas. All three, the sources say, were pointed by al-Qaida's top planner, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and are in Pakistani military custody.

A senior military-intelligence official, the report says, denies that al-Qaida has any support in the military beyond this "tiny cell".

Islamabad, meanwhile, is resisting US demands that its forces be allowed to mount their own search parties inside the tribal territories, 'TIME' said.

That scenario, explains a Pakistani military officer, could lead to an armed tribal uprising. "You get these hotshot CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) guys who come in on a six-month rotation, and they want to tear up everything- mosques, villages - to get bin Laden," a Western diplomat comments. "Well, the Pakistani Army has to live with the fallout."

PTI