The backside of the million dollar compound where al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was hiding is shown surrounded by hills in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 3, 2011. Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces in a firefight on May 1, 2011. UPI/Sajjad Ali Qureshi |
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WASHINGTON, May 4 (UPI) -- U.S. reliance on Pakistan as an anti-terrorism ally has gotten clouded with the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in that country, officials said.
U.S. forces, searching for bin Laden since al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001, terror carnage in the United States, finally located him living with some of his family and couriers in a massive compound in Pakistan's garrison town of Abbottabad, just northeast of Islamabad. A precision raid on the compound led to bin Laden's death Sunday night.
The troubling question for U.S. officials, lawmakers and experts is how bin Laden managed to hide so close to the Pakistani military and yet escape capture, CNN reported.
Post-Abbottabad, questions also are being asked whether bin Laden was being harbored in Pakistan and whether that country is supporting the fight against terror or the militants in Afghanistan, the report said.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has said U.S. officials need to learn more about the "support network" for bin Laden in Pakistan, warning against "tarring" everyone in the Pakistani government as there has been "a great deal of important cooperation" in the anti-terrorism fight.
But Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who chairs the Committee on Homeland Security was quoted as telling a House hearing on Pakistan: "There are two possibilities and one answer. One is that it was a direct facilitation by elements of the Pakistani government, or Pakistani intelligence is entirely inept, and that has not proven to be the case over the years," CNN reported.
Frederic Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute said Pakistani officials also are worried the United States, with the elimination of bin Laden, would abandon the region.
"It is essential that we find ways not only to communicate our frustration to Pakistan," but also assure that the United States will not be leaving, Kagan said.
While administration officials and some lawmakers praise Pakistan for its anti-terrorism efforts, some lawmakers say some sections in Pakistan's intelligence service have close ties with militants, CNN reported.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told CNN the United States has received important cooperation from Pakistan but also asked how bin Laden could "hide in plain sight in that kind of compound without the knowledge of high-ranking officials."
