Bangladesh's anti-Indian gun running and insurgent havens persist by Dr. Subhash Kapila, southasiaanalysis.org, 29 April 2004.

"So it makes for a really great insurgent safe haven."

Farther north, near the Syrian border, American soldiers partly lifted a siege of nearly two weeks of the insurgent haven of Tal Afar and allowed some families to trickle back in.

After four more days of fighting in Husaybah, the coalition troops launched another phase of the operation into the city of Ubaydi, an insurgent haven and site of the earlier Operation Matador.

The Associated Press reported that "the president said Mullen's statement 'expressed frustration' over the insurgent safe havens in Pakistan.

U.S. forces were in the midst of Operation Matador, an effort to clean out the insurgent safe havens in the towns along the Iraqi-Syrian border.

The southern operation was designated Operation Marne Thunderbolt and targeted insurgent safe havens in the belts to the south-east of Baghdad, particularly the Arab Jabour region.

The next day the 2nd Marine Regiment began clearing insurgent havens in the WERV.

Last year, American commanders were describing Husayba and several neighboring towns, known as the Qaim region, as a major insurgent haven.

Mr. Rumsfeld said Iraqi officials understood they must regain control of the insurgent safe havens.