Pakistan: We didn't know bin Laden was here

The compound where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden lived and died in Abbottabad, Pakistan, May 2, 2011. / AP

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's leader denied suggestions his country's security forces may have sheltered Osama bin Laden before he was killed by American forces, even as Britain said Tuesday it would be demanding answers from Islamabad as to how the al Qaeda chief was able to live undetected in a large house in a garrison town.

But in a nod to the complex realities of dealing with a nuclear-armed, unstable country that is crucial to success in neighboring Afghanistan, British Prime Minister David Cameroon said having "a massive row" with Islamabad over the issue would not be in Britain's interest.

Special section: The Killing of Osama bin Laden

Nor would it be in the interest of the United States government, as evidenced Tuesday with a joint news conference and show of solidarity in Islamabad by Pakistan's top diplomat alongside senior colleagues from both the U.S. and Afghanistan.

Asif Ali Zardari's comments in a Washington Post opinion piece Monday were Pakistan's first formal response to the suspicions by U.S. lawmakers and other critics, which could further sour relations between Islamabad and its Western backers at a key point in the war in Afghanistan.

CBS News senior foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan reported Monday that the strained friendship between Washington and Islamabad in particular, had reached its lowest point even before the raid which left bin Laden dead.

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Bin Laden was killed close to a military academy in the bustling northwestern town of Abbottabad, not in the remote Afghan border region where many had assumed he had been holed up. That was quickly taken as a sign of possible collusion with the country's powerful security establishment, which Western officials have long regarded with a measure of suspicion despite several notable al Qaeda arrests in the country since 2001.

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"Some in the U.S. press have suggested that Pakistan lacked vitality in its pursuit of terrorism, or worse yet that we were disingenuous and actually protected the terrorists we claimed to be pursuing. Such baseless speculation may make exciting cable news, but it doesn't reflect fact," Zardari wrote.

Echoing his boss's sentiments at the news conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, Pakistani foreign secretary Salman Bashir said his nation "has had robust cooperation in counter-terrorism. Pakistan has sacrificed immensely in this fight against terrorism. We will not allow our soil to be used by anyone for terrorism."

U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, standing next to Bashir, stressed the importance of Pakistan's continuing, and increasing support in fighting extremism to bring stability to neighboring Afghanistan.

"Pakistan and Afghanistan are victims of terrorism, and if we keep that in mind we will find ways to cooperate," said Grossman.

Ties between the U.S. and Pakistan were already strained amid U.S. accusations that the Pakistanis are supporting militants in Afghanistan and Pakistani anger over American drone attacks and spy activity on its soil. They came to head in late January after a CIA contractor shot and killed two Pakistan's, in what Washington said was self-defense.

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[davidswilh]

WRONG ANSWER PAKISTAN - for readers with military or law-enforcement background -- you will understand this clearly. What element was missing inside the compound during the attack ? GUARDS : Those on-site to protect him. Wife, kids, 2 couriers, and his son are not guards. The compound was walking distance to Pakistan's military academy, sticking out like a sore thumb, with retired Generals living in the neighborhood. While it may prove he had exterior compound look-outs keeping an eye for unwelcome visitors, he lived there for an unknown period of time with the benefit of PROTECTION. I will leave it to readers of this blog to think about who that protection came from. Think now..... who was his neighbors.....???

[erasmus111]

Didn't I read that he was living in a mansion? If that is what they call a mansion....YIKES!

[bilrobi1]

Remember the old Godfather line. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Well it may be kind of like that. I find it hard to believe that the Pakistani Government did not know that arguably the most wanted man in the world was staying in a mansion in a suburb of the capitol city near the nations military academy.These are not stupid people and to under estimate that would be a mistake. The U.S. Government got their man anyways. Mission Accomplished. (No really this time.) The question is what is going to be politically efficient at this point. We have a tenuous foot hold in Pakistan. That's better than nothing. We should not pull aide and leave. We still have a great deal of work to do in that part of the world. Isolating ourselves from Pakistan would be unproductive. I understand the anger, but it's a question of what is strategically expedient for our country.

[starlight3rar]

lara logan was thrown to the mob by cbs,who now shamelessly parade her as their tough little girl bravely soldiering on
Shame on scott pelley and the rest of the hypocrites hoping she will be attacked again to grab another headline!

[willwag3]

If they did know then they are liars and we should cut all aid. If they didn`t know then they are idiots and we should cut all aid. We could really use the money our government spends to support our enemies to fix our own country.

[VA_Jill]

Yeah, right.....and cows fly, the sky is pink, and Donald Trump is in touch with reality.

Abbottabad is a garrison (military) city. That means that OBL living there would be like him living in the burbs of West Point or Fort Bragg.

Of course they knew, and it's time to call them out.

[HawkSpringsIsHere]

Muslims have no qualms about lying to 'infidels' if it suits their purpose.
It's in their holy book the Koran that lying is acceptable.
It's called "Al-taqiyya."
The Pakistanis are liars.

[Empire---George____]

and Kitman

Just like at the Time Square Mosque, "it's for peaceful purposes"....Kitman and Taqiyya.

[Jhihmoac]

Yeah, right...and I don't like beer and NYC style pizza, either...

[reluctantzealot]

Now that Osama is dead, what will be the administrations excuse for sending billions to Pakistan? Watch, they will come up with reasons to keep borrowing money from China to send to muslims and continue to pass the debt onto the American childen who can't yet vote.

[Empire---George____]

First of all, we weren't in Pakistan for the sole purpose of getting bin laden.....we are there pursuing high-level members of the Al Qaeda terrorist network......so just getting some retired leader of Al Qaeda, doesn't mean our job is done there.....since Pakistan and Yemen are areas Al Qaeda has fled to.

You have a pretty narrow view of reality.....this was never about 1 person, it's about destroying and dismantling several terrorist groups.

[Robin081564]

Jaycee Duggard was held captive for decades in a tent complex in the backyard of a home in a residential area where she was abused and forced to bear a number of children. All of this while her captor was being visited by local officials whose job it was to ensure that he was not doing exactly as he was doing right under their noses. No neighbors ever reported anything unusual... And this happened right here in the U.S... Do we say, the FBI and CIA must have known about this?