Washington : The United States has made it clear to people around the world that if it locates an al-Qaida leadership operative in any country, then that nation must get him, otherwise America will, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who had evaded capture for a decade, was killed on May 2 in a top-secret US unilateral military operation involving a small team of American Special Forces in Pakistan’s Abbottabad city.
When asked during an interview with CBS News whether she would recommend additional unilateral raids if she knew the whereabouts of other key al-Qaida figures in Pakistan, Clinton said she would not comment on any hypothetical situation, and “certainly wouldn’t go into any operational details.”
“But I think it should be sufficient to say that the United States has made it clear from the very moment we were attacked – and I remember it excruciatingly well because of my service as a senator in New York – that we would go after those who had attacked us. Bin Ladin was our primary target,” she stated.
“The President [Barack Obama] made a gutsy decision. We were very pleased that the operation succeeded. And we’ve made it clear to people around the world that if we locate someone who has been part of the al-Qaida leadership, then you get him or we will get him,” she added.
On being asked as to when she is planning to visit Pakistan, without giving any confirmation, Clinton said: “Well, we’ll see how the conversations go. Marc Grossman, my special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is there now, following up on some of the areas of concern.” (ANI)
