U.S. offer to fight in Pakistan rejected; American commanders sought to launch attacks against militants.(Main)

Byline: MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT New York Times

WASHINGTON - American commanders in Afghanistan have in recent months urged a widening of the war that could include American attacks on indigenous Pakistani militants in the tribal areas inside Pakistan, according to U.S. officials.

The requests have been rebuffed for now, the officials said, after deliberations in Washington among senior Bush administration officials who fear that attacking Pakistani radicals may anger Pakistan's new government, which is negotiating with the militants, and destabilize an already fragile security situation there.

American commanders would prefer that Pakistani …