The United States has struck a deal with Pakistan to allow US troops to hunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden this spring in an area of Pakistan where he is believed to be operating, the New Yorker magazine reported on Sunday.
Thousands of US troops will be deployed in a tribal area of north-west Pakistan in return for Washington's support of President Pervez Musharraf's pardon of the nuclear scientist Dr A.Q. Khan, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh wrote in the issue that goes on sale on Monday.
Full disclosure of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan's activities would have exposed him as "the worst nuclear-arms proliferator in the world," an intelligence official is quoted as saying.
"It's a quid pro quo," according to a former senior intelligence official. "We're going to get our troops inside Pakistan in return for not forcing Musharraf to deal with Dr Khan."
Musharraf has also offered other help in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to the article.
"Musharraf told us, 'We've got guys inside. The people who provide fresh fruits and vegetables and herd the goats' for Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda followers," the intelligence official added.
The spring offensive could slow the tempo of US operations in Iraq, the magazine said.
"It's going to be a full-court press," one Pentagon planner was quoted as saying. The article added that some of the most highly skilled US Special Forces units would be shifted from Iraq to Pakistan.
Special Forces personnel have been briefed on their new assignments and in some cases have been given "warning orders" - the stage before being sent into combat, according to a military adviser.