Islamabad : Pakistan has warned that no one should have any doubt about its defence capability and misadventure or miscalculation in future would result in terrible catastrophe.Briefing newsmen here Thursday about different aspects and questions surrounding Abbottabad operation by the United States,
Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said Pakistan has adequate capacity to uphold its honour, defend its sovereignty and safeguard its security. He said Pakistan military and politicalleadership are well equipped and mindful of the defence requirements of the country. No Pakistani should feel demoralize in this regard.The Foreign Secretary said that the action which led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden was a covert operation and Pakistan armed forces were not consulted. He said the US helicopters reached the scene evading Pakistani radars and our authorities came to know of the incident when a copter crashed. Relevant units reached the site within fifteen minutes, Pakistan Air Force was alerted and two F-16st were air-borne. American CENTCOM Chief Admiral Mike Mullen telephone Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at about three in the night and informed him about the operation. The Foreign Secretary said even Amerians were mindful of the sovereignty issue and Admiral Mullen, among other things, also raised this issue during conversation.Salman Bashir said American action in Abbottabad involved legal issues concerning violation of sovereignty and these should be addressed for the sake of global peace and stability. He pointed out that even presidential statement of the UN Security Council has emphasized that member states must ensure that any measure taken to combat terrorism complies with their obligations under international law and in particular human rights, refugee and humanitarian law.The Foreign Secretary also pointed out that the compound where Osama bin Ladin was killed is about four kilometer from PMA Kakul but we should be mindful of the fact that it is a training academy and doesn't have the kind of defence that we have for our other military and strategic assets especially aerial and ground defence. About remarks of CIA Chief that Pakistan's ISI was either guilty of complicity or incompetent, the Foreign Secretary said such statements continue to surface and resurface and are aimed at pressurizingPakistan to do more. He said this is fale and hypothetic allegation that flies in the face of what Pakistan and ISI have been able to accomplish. Performance of no intelligence agency including CIA can compare with that of the ISI in the war against terror. He said the United States intensively bombed Tora Bora mountains against advice of Pakistan and this flawed military strategy enabled Al-Qaeda elements to disperse in different directions. It was at that time that Pakistani armed forces moved into Terah Valley and picked up 248 of fleeing Al-Qaeda operatives. Since then all the major catches were made either by ISI on its own or in joint operation with CIA and these included those of Khalid Sheikh, Abu Faraj Libbi, Rumzi, Abu Zubaida, Khalfan, Abu Hamza Rabia and so called Bali bomber from different cities and places of the country.About incompetence, he said this aspect is being looked into. However, he said if it was an intelligence failure then, as pointed out by Prime Minister Gilani, it was global intelligence failure. After all there was no information within the US system about those who were ultimately responsible for 9/11 and the US Government and CIA failed to prevent them. He said this is not time for anybody to indulge in luxury of passing value judgments.ISI has done a commendable work and has a brilliant track record of combating terrorism and interdicting Al-Qaeda. The Foreign Secretary said there are red-lines in Pakistan's cooperation with the United States and other members of the international community and these should be observed. He said it was absolutely wrong to speculate that elements within the ISI or the Government were providing cover to Osama. He said the United States itself has acknowledged that some of the leads that ultimately led to identification of the Abbottabad compound resulted from the information shared between ISI and CIA.To a question, the Foreign Secretary said family members and others found in the compound were with Pakistan but he declined to provide details. He said in the spirit of cooperation, Pakistan would lookinto all aspects and hoped that more information will surface as to how long Osama lived in the compound, who was with him and what local support he had.The Foreign Secretary also rejected the impression that Pakistan-US relations were at the lowest ebb after the incident and pointed out that he visited Washington recently and US special envoy Marc Grossman visited Pakistan and held fruitful meetings with Pakistani leadership. He said the US acknowledges Pakistan's cooperation and there is strategic convergence between the two countries.PPI
