Pak Officials Know More About al-Qaida, Laden than They Pretend: Hillary
US Secretary for State Hillary Clinton has said that some officials in Pakistani administration are more informed of al-Qaida and Taliban than they pretend as the US for the first time accused Taliban for being behind the failed Times Square bombing plot, said media reports.
“Some Pakistani officials were more informed about al-Qaida and Taliban than they let on,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying.
“I’m not saying that they’re at the highest levels but I believe that somewhere in this government are people who know where Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida is, where Mullah Omar and the leadership of the Afghan Taliban is and we expect more cooperation to help us bring to justice, capture or kill, those who attacked us on 9/11,” Clinton was quoted as saying in an interview with CBS.
In response to a query if the US was not receiving enough cooperation from Islamabad in anti-terror drive, Clinton acknowledged a ‘sea change’ in cooperation by Pakistani authorities but added ‘we want more’, said reports.
Responding to another question if Obama administration was not mounting pressure on Islamabad to give up Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahiri, she said, “I have to stand up for the efforts the Pakistani government is taking. They have done a very significant move toward going after the terrorists within their own country.”
Her remarks came in the backdrop of senior US officials including Attorney General Eric Holder saying that they have obtained new evidence that Pakistani Taliban was behind the attempt to trigger a car bomb blast in the heart of New York.
(Based on internet reports)
