Al Qaeda’s safe havens are shrinking: Obama

* US president vows relentless fight against militants across the globe

* Says Qaeda leadership is under more pressure in Pakistan than at any point since 2001

WASHINGTON: United States President Barack Obama, adhering to his plan to begin drawdown of some American troops from Afghanistan this year, said on Tuesday that al Qaeda havens along Pakistan-Afghanistan border are shrinking and fewer Afghans live under the Taliban control, after yearlong anti-terrorist operations.

The US leader, now into third year of his presidency – devoted mainly to recovery from economic recession at home in the midst of rising international competition and anti-terror cooperation efforts around the world – sounded an upbeat message for Americans in a prime-time annual State of the Union address.

“Their leaders and operatives are being removed from the battlefield. Their safe havens are shrinking,” Obama said of al Qaeda in Pakistan.

“And we have sent a message from the Afghan border to the Arabian Peninsula to all parts of the globe: we will not relent, we will not waver and we will defeat you,” he asserted. The US president’s reference to the Arabian Peninsula underscored the rising threat posed by al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, which has been blamed for recent plots against US targets.

Obama said that al Qaeda’s leadership was under more pressure in Pakistan now than at any time since the 9/11 attacks and that the US-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan would deny the network sanctuary there.

He said the US-led forces were rolling back al Qaeda’s Taliban allies but warned of difficult days ahead in the nine-year-old war. He credited counter-terrorism operatives for foiling al Qaeda plots but also sought to reassure American-Muslims that there would be no backlash against them.

“Thanks to our heroic troops and civilians, fewer Afghans are under the control of the insurgency. There will be tough fighting ahead, and the Afghan government will need to deliver better governance,” he said.

The US president called for Americans to unleash their creative spirits, put aside their partisan differences and come together around a common goal of out-competing other nations in a rapidly shifting global economy.

He renewed his pledge to start withdrawing some of the nearly 100,000 US troops from Afghanistan in July and that NATO-led forces would begin to hand over security duties to Afghan forces in 2011.

With regard to Iran’s nuclear programme, Obama said, “Because of a diplomatic effort to insist that Iran meet its obligations, the Iranian government now faces tougher and tighter sanctions than ever before.” agencies.