In Pakistan, embarrassed silence on killing of bin Laden
Pakistan faced enormous embarrassment Monday after Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces, raising questions over whether its military and intelligence were too incompetent to catch him themselves or knew all along where he was hiding.
The killing of the world’s most-wanted man in a house just a few hundred meters from Pakistan’s version of the West Point military academy will only fuel suspicions that the country has been playing a double-game over Islamist militants and al-Qaida.
Analysts say it would be a stretch to believe Pakistan’s spy agency did not know bin Laden was living in a town just a couple of hours up the road from Islamabad: If it did know, the country was essentially caught red-handed shielding him from capture.
“There will be a lot of tension between Washington and Islamabad because bin Laden seems to have been living here close to Islamabad,” said Imtiaz Gul, a Pakistani security analyst. “This is a serious blow to the credibility of Pakistan.”