Washington: Keeping up the pressure on Islamabad to act against
Haqqani network’s safe havens in Pakistan, the United States has warned
that it would act on its own as it did against Osama bin Laden hiding
in Pakistan.
"The fact of the matter is we are fighting a war
in Afghanistan, and one of the problems we’ve had, which is where this
issue arises from, is with the safe havens that the Haqqani network has
in Pakistan," the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told
reporters.
"That’s an issue that we raised with our Pakistani
counterparts, and we continue to have those discussions on a regular
basis about the broad range of areas where we have shared interests and
cooperation," he said.
Asked what discussions were going on
with the Pakistanis about military action that might go beyond drones
Carney said: "Certainly, we take action against the enemies of the
United States -- members of Al Qaeda -- where we find them. And as you
know, in the case of Osama bin Laden, that happened to be in Pakistan."
"The relationship that we have with Pakistan is complicated but
very important," he said when asked if ties with Islamabad were close
to a point of no return over recent spats.
"They have been
important allies, the Pakistanis have been, in our fight against Al
Qaeda, and that fight continues. And we expect to have continued
cooperation with the Pakistanis on that."
"There’s no question
that we have disagreements, complications in our relationship, and we
speak openly and candidly with our Pakistani counterparts about this,"
he said.
"But we certainly believe that the relationship is
important enough, that the kind of cooperation we get is essential to
our national security and we need to continue it, precisely so we can
most effectively take the fight to Al Qaeda and succeed in that
region," he said. Online
