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Osama had support network in Pakistan, says Obama
Iraq’s Qaida pledges support to Zawahri
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US for greater role in probe into ISI link with Osama Wants to interview dead Al-Qaida chief’s widows New York, May 9 US administration is pushing for greater control over the investigation of any involvement of the Pakistani spy agency ISI in Osama bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan since 9/11, amid fears that Islamabad may not carry out a credible probe. Beijing thanks India for saving its sailors, ship
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Osama had support network in Pakistan, says Obama
Washington, May 9 “We don’t know whether there might have been some people inside of government, people outside of government, and that’s something that we have to investigate and more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate,” he told the ‘60 Minutes’ show on ‘CBS News’ in his first interview after bin Laden’s death. “We think that there had to be some sort of support network for bin Laden inside of Pakistan. But we don’t know who or what that support network was,” Obama said. His comments came as his top security adviser said there was no evidence so far that the Pakistan Government knew about the Al-Qaida chief’s presence in the country. “We have already communicated to them, and they have indicated they have a profound interest in finding out what kinds of support networks bin Laden might have had. “But these are questions that we’re not gonna be able to answer three or four days after the event. It’s gonna take some time for us to be able to exploit the intelligence that we were able to gather on site,” Obama said. Refraining from making any adverse comment on Pakistan given that stakes are high right now, Obama said he had to be careful about sources and methods and how America operates and how it pieced together this intelligence, because they were still be going after terrorists in the future. “What I can say is that Pakistan, since 9/11, has been a strong counterterrorism partner with us. There have been times where we’ve had disagreements. There have been times where we wanted to push harder, and for various concerns, they might have hesitated. And those differences are real. And they’ll continue,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is, is that we’ve been able to kill more terrorists on Pakistani soil than just about any place else. We could not have done that without Pakistani cooperation. “And I think that this will be an important moment in which Pakistan and the United States gets together and say, ‘All right, we’ve gotten bin Laden, but we’ve got more work to do. And are there ways for us to work more effectively together than we have in the past?’,” he said. “And that’s gonna be important for our national security. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t gonna be times where we’re gonna be frustrated with Pakistanis,” he said. — PTI
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Iraq’s Qaida pledges support to Zawahri
Baghdad, May 9 "I tell our brothers in Al-Qaida organisation and on the top of them Sheikh Mujahid Ayman al-Zawahri ... be merry, you have faithful men in the Islamic State of Iraq who are following the right path and will not quit or be forced out," he said in the statement. "I swear by God, blood for blood and destruction for destruction," he said in a clear reference to revenge attacks for bin Laden's death. Iraq's army and police have been on high alert for revenge attacks since bin Laden's killing by U.S. commandos. —
Reuters
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US for greater role in probe into ISI link with Osama
New York, May 9 US National Security Advisor Thomas E. Donilon has asked that American investigators be allowed to interview the dead Al-Qaida chief’s wives, who are in Pakistan’s custody, The New York Times reported. The large treasure trove of documents unearthed from bin Laden’s house in Abbottabad, however, could lead to some clues on who inside the government and intelligence agency was secretly concealing his whereabouts. The Times pointed out that the Bush administration had made a similar appeal to question Abdul Qadeer Khan, the chief of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, who sold nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Islamabad, however, did not grant permission. “Our guess is that the wives knew just who was keeping Bin Laden alive for all these years,” one official told The Times. “It’s the Khan case all over again.” The newspaper pointed out that Obama administration did not expect Pakistan to carry out a credible investigation. “For more than two years Pakistan has slow-walked investigations into the 2008 siege in Mumbai, India, by a terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, that is believed to have strong links to portions of the Pakistani intelligence apparatus,” it said. The extent of official involvement in terrorist related activity, however, is not clear. The Obama administration has stopped short of accusing the Pakistani government, which is Washington’s ally in the war against terror. “But we don’t know who or what that support network was,” Obama told CBS news last week. Several observers in the US have pointed out that it may not be possible for Washington to cut its ties with Islamabad. — PTI
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Beijing thanks India for saving its sailors, ship Beijing, May 9 The Chinese vessel MV Fu Cheng (Full City), registered in Panama, faced a pirate attack 450 nautical miles off the Karwar Coast (of Karnataka) while it was on its way from Jeddah to Tuticorin port on May 6. The Indian Navy swung into action and mobilised its aircraft and ships immediately after receiving an emergency call from the Chinese authorities and thwarted the attack. "It was thus the navies of other countries, Turkey's and India's among them that helped to drive away the pirates and escorted the ship to safety," Chinese Vice-Minister of Transport Xu Zuyuan said. This is for the first time top Chinese officials acknowledged efforts of Indian Navy to save the ship. Currently 51 sailors from China are in the custody of pirates, state-run China Daily quoted Xu as saying. In all Somalian pirates are holding 338 sailors in custody from various countries besides 26 vessels in captivity. So far this year, pirates have attacked 118 vessels and hijacked 20 ships. In the past week, they assaulted two ships with Chinese sailors on board. Xu said his ministry is now trying to learn what other measures can be adopted to strengthen ships' defences and mulling over options like paying security-service companies to station guards on board. He said sailors should watch out for their own best interests when they seek employment. "Many Chinese sailors now work for foreign shipping companies, but some are small. Once hijacked, these small foreign shipping companies just disappear at times, abandoning the hijacked ship and leaving sailors on their own," he said. —
PTI
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Raising questions about the possibility that “some people inside of government” in Pakistan may have been involved in providing support structure for the slain terrorist Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.
