|
"It's a complicated but important relationship,"
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told the
media here. "Pakistan is a partner - a key
partner - in the fight against Al Qaeda and terrorism.
"It's a complicated relationship. There's
no question. And we do have our differences.
"It's important to note that there are many
people in Pakistan and there are many people in
the Pakistan government, so you have to be careful
about tarring everyone either in the country or
the government...
"Because they have provided extremely useful
assistance over the years. And we look forward
to cooperating with Pakistan going into the future.
"And so while we recognize that there are
complicated differences between our two countries
and how we approach and view things at times,
there has also been a great deal of important
cooperation," he added.
That, he underlined, "should not be lost"
as the US continues to battle terrorists in the
region.
The dramatic killing of Osama at a mansion in
Abbottabad city, close to a Pakistani military
academy, has caused irritants in Pakistan-US relations.
There are growing voices that the elusive Al
Qaeda leader, wanted for plotting the audacious
9/11 terrorist attack, could not have lived so
deep inside Pakistan without some Pakistani support.
But Carney pointed out that Pakistan had provided
"useful and important assistance and cooperation"
for years.
He said this when he was asked if the White House
had a view on some US lawmakers suggesting freezing
aid to Pakistan until they demonstrated that they
didn't know anything about Osama's whereabouts.
But he said the US needed to find out how Osama
lived in such a secure environment.
"We look forward to finding out more information
about the support network that did allow bin Laden
to hide in this compound in a suburb of Islamabad.
We understand the Pakistanis are investigating
as well."
Carney said the US was not aware, as of now,
"if anybody in the (Pakistani) government
was aware that bin Laden or a high-value target
was living in this (Abbottabad) compound.
"It's logical to assume that he had some
sort of supporting network, but what constituted
that network is-remains to be seen.
"It's a big country and a big government,
and we have to be very focused and careful about
how we do this because it is an important relationship.
"I would also say that the idea that these
kind of complications exist is not new... This
is not an issue that arrived on our doorstep on
Sunday."
But Carney reiterated that intelligence was not
shared with Pakistan about the Sunday raid by
US commandos who flew into Abbottabad, killed
Osama and flew away with his body -- after a 40-minute
firefight.
"Pakistan did provide and has provided useful
intelligence and cooperation over the years, and
broadly speaking, provided assistance that helped
us build the mountain of information that we needed
to build in order to find bin Laden and execute
this mission.
"We need to keep the fight up against Al
Qaeda. And Pakistan is very important - a very
important partner in that effort...
"We remain confident that that (Pakistani)
cooperation will continue.
(IANS)
|
