WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta still believes someone in
authority in Pakistan knew where Osama bin Laden was hiding before US
forces went in to find him, he said in a TV interview to air
Sunday.Intelligence reports found Pakistani military helicopters had
passed over the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan where US Navy SEALs
discovered and killed bin Laden last year, according to excerpts of an
interview Panetta gave to CBS News.'I personally have always felt that
somebody must have had some sense of what was happening at this
compound. Don t forget, this compound had 18-foot walls... It was the
largest compound in the area.'So you would have thought that somebody
would have asked the question, What the hell s going on there? '
Panetta told CBS.The Pentagon chief said that concern played a
significant factor in Washington not warning Pakistan officials of the
impending raid: 'it concerned us that, if we, in fact, brought
(Pakistan) into it, that-- they might...give bin Laden a heads up,' he
said.Panetta acknowledged he did not have 'hard evidence' Pakistan knew
of the Al Qaeda leader s whereabouts.US Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden on
May 2 in a raid on a compound in the Pakistani garrison town of
Abbottabad, north of the capital Islamabad, and later buried the 9/11
mastermind at sea. (AFP)
No comments:
Post a Comment