ISLAMABAD – Pakistan and the United States reaffirmed their
commitment on Tuesday to fight Islamist militancy on Tuesday, a day after the
killing of Osama bin Laden presented an opportunity to reconcile strained ties
and find a solution to the Afghan conflict.
Pakistan has faced enormous international scrutiny since bin Laden was killed
by U.S. forces in a military garrison town about 60 km (35 miles) north of
Islamabad on Monday, not least over whether its military and intelligence
agencies were unaware of the al Qaeda leader's location, or knew and failed to
act.
Senior officials from the United States and Pakistan have sought to play down
such concerns, saying bin Laden's killing was a "shared achievement," but the
questions underscored the deep divisions between the two nations.
"This of course was the end of someone who was violently subverting
democratic governments in the region," U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and
Pakistan, Marc Grossman, told reporters after a three-way meeting also involving
Afghanistan.
Washington and Islamabad have clashed in the past over Pakistan's commitment
to the fight against Islamist militancy.
Western leaders have long been concerned about Islamist militants from al
Qaeda, the Taliban and other groups using safe havens and training camps in
Pakistan's remote and largely lawless northwest
Islamabad in turn has been angered by the use of pilotless U.S. drones to
attack targets on Pakistan soil.
But the killing of bin Laden could help smooth earlier tensions and coincides
with a shake-up of Washington's senior security team which includes sending
diplomatic heavyweight Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. envoy to Pakistan, to
Kabul. Reuters
