News
Thursday, May 19, 2011
No evidence Pakistani leaders knew about bin Laden: Gates
WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday that “somebody” in Pakistan knew Osama bin Laden was hiding in the country but there was no proof that Islamabad leaders were aware. “My supposition is, somebody knew,” Gates told a news conference. But Gates and the US military’s top officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, said there was no evidence that leaders in Islamabad knew the whereabouts of the al Qaeda chief before a US raid this month that killed bin Laden. Gates and Mullen also advised against cutting off aid to Pakistan for its failure to go after terrorist leaders, saying Washington had important interests at stake and that Islamabad had already been “humiliated” by the raid. “I think we have to proceed with some caution,” Gates said. “My own view is we need to continue the assistance that we have provided that benefits the Pakistani people,” he said. The Pentagon chief, in his first press conference since bin Laden was killed on May 2, argued against punishing Pakistan by suspending aid as Islamabad had suffered a blow as a result of the covert raid. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk