[maestro]

There are Chinese Al Qaeda members....they fought against the Pakistanis last year in and around Wana Pakistan.

......bingo

[Fitzcarraldo]

[jriemer]

The "finger" of Afghanistan stretches east towards China and above northern Pakistan where there has been AQ activity for many years.

"Ironically, perhaps the greatest danger Howkins faced on the K2 attempt was merely safely getting out of Pakistan. While on the mountain, the political situation in that troubled region had turned deadly. American Ned Gillette (1998) was murdered in a nearby valley, and a U.S. cruise missile attack on Afghanistan had aroused Islamic militants.

"We learned two days into the trek that the political situation was worsening," Howkins said. "And by the time it was time to leave, our liason officer said that we should not identify ourselves as Americans because Bin Laden (the suspected terrorist leader) had put a £10,000 bounty on Americans." source

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K2 is the highest peak in the Karakorum(sp) range and appears to be directly below the "end" of the Afghan "finger"