Govt expresses ‘deep concern’ over Osama operation
Mariana Baabar
ISLAMABAD: A day after Pakistan was seemingly taken by complete surprise as the United States flew helicopters from Afghanistan right into a compound in Abbottabad and carried out an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistan expressed its ‘deep concern’ and ‘reservations’ about the manner in which the Government of the United States had carried out the operation without prior information or authorisation from Pakistan.
Pakistan has complained that the US decided to unilaterally carry out the operation against Osama, despite the fact that till April 2011, the ISI had been sharing intelligence with the CIA about the possibility of a high value target in the Abbottabad compound.
The government’s statement also carries a veiled threat that “this event of unauthorised unilateral action cannot be taken as a rule. The Government of Pakistan affirms that such an event shall not serve as a future precedent for any state, including the US. Such actions undermine cooperation and may also sometime constitute threat to international peace and security.”
As criticism poured in from ordinary Pakistanis about the incompetence of the Pakistani security establishment, the General Headquarters quickly tried to control damage by issuing a lengthy statement from the Foreign Office. It was clear that the attempt was ‘too little, too late.’ The government’s claims that the ISI’s achievements against Al Qaeda and the war on terror are more than any other intelligence agency in the world no longer cuts.
In the statement, Pakistan has categorically denied media reports suggesting that its leadership, civil as well as military, had any prior knowledge of the US operation against Osama bin Laden carried out in the early hours of May 2, 2011. However, it reminded that the Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies had played a pivotal role in breaking the back of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organisations in Pakistan as well as around the world.
“Most of the successes achieved by the US and other friendly countries have been the result of effective intelligence cooperation and extremely useful military support by Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan and its security forces have resolved to continue their fight against terrorism until the people of Pakistan can live in peace and security,” said the statement.
The government was constrained to make public the fact that Abbottabad and the surrounding areas had been under sharp monitoring by intelligence agencies since 2003 due to which a high value Al Qaeda target was arrested there in 2004.
“As far as the target compound is concerned, ISI had been sharing information with CIA and other friendly intelligence agencies since 2009. The intelligence flow indicating some foreigners in the surroundings of Abbottabad, continued till mid April 2011,” said the statement. “It is important to highlight that taking advantage of much superior technological assets, CIA exploited the intelligence leads given by Pakistan to identify and reach Osama bin Laden, a fact also acknowledged by the US President and Secretary of State, in their statements. It is also important to mention that CIA and some other friendly intelligence agencies have benefited a great deal from the intelligence provided by ISI.”
Pakistanis feel they have been shamed by an Army that usurps billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money from the fiscal budget and gives extensions to its top leaders to ensure ‘continuity’ of counterterrorism efforts. This sentiment is not lost on the GHQ, which says through the FO statement: “The Government of Pakistan and its Armed Forces consider the support of the people of Pakistan to be its mainstay and actual strength. Any actions contrary to their aspirations, therefore, run against the very basis on which the edifice of national defence and security is based”.
The statement has tried to clarify several reports that appeared in the media, most importantly about the manner in which US helicopters sneaked in and out of Pakistan without detection, in a rare example where the nation’s pride, the PAF, was caught completely off guard because of superior technology.
“Reports about US helicopters taking off from Ghazi Airbase are absolutely false and incorrect. Neither was any base or facility inside Pakistan used by the US forces, nor did the Pakistan Army provide any operational or logistic assistance to these operations conducted by the US forces,” reads the statement. “US helicopters entered Pakistani airspace making use of blind spots in the radar coverage due to hilly terrain. US helicopters’ undetected flight into Pakistan was also facilitated by the mountainous terrain, efficacious use of latest technology and ‘nap of the earth’ flying techniques. It may not be realistic to draw an analogy between this undefended civilian area and some military/security installations which have elaborate local defence arrangements.”
The US operation has also led to apprehensions that if a compound inside a Red Zone could be targeted, what about other vital installations inside Pakistan which the US could hit using the same technology.
The statement adds, “On receipt of information regarding the incident, PAF scrambled its jets within minutes. This has been corroborated by the White House Adviser Mr John Brennan who while replying to a question said, ‘We didn’t contact the Pakistanis until after all of our people, all of our aircraft, were out of Pakistani airspace. At the time, the Pakistanis were reacting to an incident that they knew was taking place in Abbottabad. Therefore, they were scrambling some of their assets. Clearly, we were concerned that if the Pakistanis decided to scramble jets or whatever else, they didn’t know who were on those jets. They had no idea about who might have been on there, whether it be US or somebody else. So, we were watching and making sure that our people and our aircraft were able to get out of Pakistani airspace. And thankfully, there was no engagement with Pakistani forces. This operation was designed to minimise the prospects, the chances of engagement with Pakistani forces. It was done very well, and thankfully no Pakistani forces were engaged and there were no other individuals who were killed aside from those on the compound’.”
According to the Pakistan Foreign Office, high walled mansions such as the one in which Osama was found were ‘not a rarity’. “There has been a lot of discussion about the nature of the targeted compound, particularly its high walls and its vicinity to the areas housing Pakistan Army elements. It needs to be appreciated that many houses occupied by the affectees of operations in FATA/KPK, have high boundary walls, in line with their culture of privacy and security. Houses with such layout and structural details are not a rarity,” reads the statement.
The government says the family members of Osama bin Ladin are in safe hands and being looked after in accordance with the law. Those who required medical care are under treatment in the best possible facilities. As per policy, they will be handed over to their countries of origin.
Pakistan has reiterated that in keeping with international obligations, it has been extending full and proper cooperation on all counterterrorism efforts, including exchange of information and intelligence. Pursuant to such cooperation, Pakistan has arrested several high profile terrorists, reads the statement.
Source: The News
Date:5/4/2011
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