News
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Pakistan’s actions to determine its ties with US: Kerry
ISLAMABAD: US Senator John Kerry warned Pakistan on Monday that future relations would be determined by its actions, not words, after controversy over the killing of Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil. Kerry told a news conference he had not come to Islamabad to apologise for the May 2 secret US raid. But, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the US-Pakistani ties were too important to be unraveled by the incident. In a veiled warning to the Pakistani security establishment, made up of the military and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), he said, “The road ahead will not be defined by words. It will be defined by actions.” Kerry said the US had “grave concerns” that bin Laden was found in Pakistan, and Congress was now scrutinising Washington’s ties with its strategic ally. “I emphasised to our Pakistani friends – and they are friends – that many in Congress are raising tough questions about our ongoing economic assistance to the government of Pakistan because of the events as they unfolded, and because of the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan,” he said. While there was “no evidence the high leadership of this country, whether civilian or military had any knowledge” of bin Laden’s presence, he said, some members of Congress were not confident that the ties could be repaired. The senator made clear that any Pakistani inquiry into how bin Laden managed to evade notice by the ISI or the military for years would be fact-checked against intelligence gathered by the Navy SEALs at his compound. reuters
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk