WASHINGTON: Pakistan on Sunday said if it knew Osama bin Laden was hiding in the country, it would have acted against the al Qaeda leader, who was taken out by US forces in an operation in Abbottabad.
“If any member of the Pakistani government, the Pakistani military or the Pakistani intelligence service knew where Osama bin Laden was, we would have taken action,” Islamabad's ambassador in Washington Husain Haqqani told ABC This Week.
“Osama bin Laden's presence in Pakistan was not to Pakistan's advantage,” he added.
Pakistan is pursuing an investigation to understand how the al Qaeda leader could have been hiding in a prominent town. It is premature to reveal the details of the investigation, said Haqqani. Punishment, if warranted, will be delivered, he added.
“Heads will roll once the investigation has been completed,” Haqqani said.
“Now if those heads are rolled on account of incompetence, we will share that information with you, and if, God forbid, somebody's complicity is discovered, there will be zero tolerance for that as well.”
The channel reported that Pakistani officials have interviewed at least one of Bin Laden's wives.
“We understand that one of the wives never left the same floor as Osama bin Laden because they were paranoid of physical movement, they didn't go to windows, they didn't have any fresh air,” the Pakistani ambassador revealed.
US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, appearing on the same program, said there is no indication that Pakistani political, military or intelligence leadership ever knew about Osama bin Laden's presence in a compound in the hilly town of Abbottabad.
As to whether Pakistan will grant the United States access to the wives and the material in Pakistan's position, Haqqani stuck to a diplomatic script.
“What we do, Mr. (Tom) Donilon will know,” Haqqani told ABC host Christiane Amanpour.
Critics of the US-Pakistan alliance exist in both countries, Haqqani added, but at the end of the day, it is a mutually beneficial relationship that will continue despite “complaining and carping.”
“We are allies and partners who need each other,” said Haqqani.
He also asked people in the United States to understand the Pakistani perspective and the ground realities. Washington also has a job to reach out and clear itself to the Pakistanis, he said.
Islamabad, he said, has noted with satisfaction that bin Laden has been eliminated but it objects to any foreign intervention into its territory.
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