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Pakistan, United States Reaffirm Fight Against Islamic Militancy

May 03, 2011

Pakistan and the United States today reaffirmed their commitment to fight Islamist extremism, a day after the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Pakistan has faced international scrutiny since U.S. forces killed bin Laden in a town north of Islamabad on May 2, with speculation focusing on whether Pakistan's intelligence agencies were unaware of the Al-Qaeda leader's location.

Speaking after a meeting today in Islamabad between U.S., Pakistani, and Afghan officials, U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman said, "This, of course, was the end of someone who was violently subverting democratic governments in the region."

Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said, "Who did what is beside the point...This issue of Osama bin Laden is history."

Meanwhile, the Pakistani government released a statement saying the raid should not serve as a precedent for future U.S. actions in the country.

CIA Director Leon Panetta said the agency ruled out working with Pakistan on the raid because "it was decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardize the mission: They might alert the targets."

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has said that while it was not a joint operation, "A decade of cooperation and partnership between the United States and Pakistan led up to the elimination of Osama bin Laden as a continuing threat to the civilized world."

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan_united_ states_osama_bin_laden/24090475.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.