Pakistan's prime minister yesterday dismissed allegations that his country’s military and intelligence service had helped Osama Bin Laden as ‘absurd’.Announcing an investigation into how the Al Qaeda chief was able to live in the heart of the garrison city of Abbottabad undetected for five years, Yusuf Raza Gilani stressed there was absolutely no evidence that anyone in authority had helped.
Mr Gilani said ‘justice had been done’ when U.S. Navy Seals killed Bin Laden at his compound last Monday.
But he revealed the true extent of his country’s fury at the raid when he said if the Americans carried out any further unilateral strikes, they would be met with ‘full force’.
The angry language shows the depths to which relations between the countries have fallen.
'It is disingenuous for anyone to blame Pakistan or state institutions of Pakistan, including the ISI and the armed forces, for being in cahoots with Al Qaeda,' he said in a statement to parliament.
'Allegations of complicity or incompetence are absurd. Pakistan is not the birthplace of Al Qaeda.
'We did not invite Osama Bin Laden to Pakistan or even to Afghanistan.'
Gilani expressed full confidence in Pakistan's military and Inter-Services Intelligence agency, which have been heavily criticized for failing to confront the U.S. Navy SEALs who conducted last week's helicopter raid without notifying Pakistan first. Read More
