Pakistani Ambassador: Times Square Bomb Suspect Acted Alone
Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, spoke to CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk about U.S.-Pakistan cooperation in the investigation of Pakistani-American bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad as well as what Pakistan needs to do to eliminate jihadists in the country's tribal regions.
This is the second part of the interview - the first part is here.
Senior White House officials said Sunday that the Pakistani Taliban backed the failed Times Square bombing. On CBS' "Face the Nation," U.S. Presidential adviser John Brennan said that Faisel Shahzad was working with a Pakistani Taliban group closely allied with al Qaeda.
But Pakistan's ambassador said in an interview with CBS News that he does not agree with Obama administration officials that the alleged bomber, Faisal Shahzad, was trained by Tariqi Taliban in Pakistan.
"General Petraeus had it right that this was the act of a lone man," he said. Petraeus stated (prior to the administration's claims Sunday) that he did not believe that Shahzad worked with other terrorists. And although Haroon said that the Obama administration may have other evidence, he said, "All I am saying is that the evidence I have points in one direction. It does not have its signature of the Taliban."
Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon also contested the claim of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who stated explicitly that there are those in the Pakistani government who know the location of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda leaders.
Clinton fired a shot across the bow at the Pakistani government on "60 Minutes" yesterday, saying the United States cannot tolerate having people trained in Pakistan and sent to attack America. While Clinton praised some efforts by the Pakistan government, she demanded more cooperation.
Ambassador Haroon said that if the Pakistani government knew where Osama Bin Laden is, they would have gone after him. (watch the video at left)
He said that the Pakistani army -- not the U.S. military -- will have to decide when and how to send forces to North Waziristan, where it is believed bin Laden is hiding.
Tariqi Taliban Pakistan, or the TTP, is the group that members of the administration believe backed Shahzad's attempted attack, both financially and through training. The group is believed to be aligned with al Qaeda.
In the interview, Haroon also repeated his calls for a fatwa to be issued by regional clerics against suicide bombers.
"Why don't they issue a fatwa - which is the Islamic way of doing it - saying that suicide bombing of innocents is un-Islamic," he asked.
This story was filed by CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk, based at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
