'Breakthrough in al-Qaeda hunt'

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says the discovery of a meeting of terrorist suspects in Pakistan in March had exposed what he called a second string leadership of al-Qaeda.

A report in the American Time magazine quotes President Musharraf as saying that the personalities involved and the operations discussed were all extremely significant.

The meeting took place in a north western tribal area, Waziristan, where Pakistani forces have been conducting an operation against militants.

Time says that some of those at the discussions have since been arrested in the United States and Britain, but others remain at large.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service