ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 1 (UPI) -- A State Department spokesman says the U.S. government believes Pakistan's denial of helping hide al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden for 10 years.
Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in Washington the question was raised after learning bin Laden and his family had lived in five different places in Pakistan until U.S. Navy Seals killed him May 2, 2011 in Abbottabad, The Express Tribune reported.
"After the … raid, we asked the Pakistan government the question of whether there was a larger network at play here or there was some kind of network of support, I guess, for Bin Laden when he was there," Toner said. "We have not received any information that indicates that there was such a network of support there."
Tensions between Pakistan and the United States have been mounting for more than a year, partly because of suspicions bin Laden had been living there safely. Pakistan is also upset with the United States for using drones to bomb suspected al-Qaida and Taliban targets along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Scores of civilians have been killed and injured in the attacks, Pakistan has said.
Meanwhile in Islamabad, a special joint session of Parliament was held Friday to discuss relations with the United States, the newspaper said.
One anti-U.S. member called for Pakistan to ignore the United States and release one of bin Laden's three wives and four children and send them home to Yemen in a Muslim "show of solidarity," the report said.
