Click to play
US President Barack Obama: "We are respectful of Pakistani authority"
US President Barack Obama has said he would order a similar operation to that which killed Osama Bin Laden if another militant leader was found in Pakistan.
He said the US was mindful of Pakistani sovereignty but said the US could not allow "active plans to come to fruition without us taking some action".The killing of Bin Laden by US forces in a Pakistani garrison town on 2 May strained ties between the two allies.
President Obama was speaking to the BBC ahead of a European visit.
Asked what he would do if one of al-Qaeda's top leaders, or the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was tracked down to a location in Pakistan or another sovereign territory, he said the US would take unilateral action if required.
"Our job is to secure the United States," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr during a wide-ranging interview.
"We are very respectful of the sovereignty of Pakistan. But we cannot allow someone who is actively planning to kill our people or our allies' people.
Continue reading the main story 
President Obama's statement that he would be prepared to authorise further covert operations in Pakistan won't go down well here.
Pakistanis were hugely embarrassed not just by the discovery of Osama Bin Laden in the country, but even more, it appears, by the fact it was a unilaterally US mission that killed him.
Since then, there have been demonstrations, particularly by religious parties, against American military attacks in Pakistan, including the drone strikes that continue to target militants near the Afghan border.
The government and the army have said Washington must involve Islamabad when they target high-profile al-Qaeda and Taliban figures in the future.
But many will feel the way the Bin Laden operation was carried out exposed the lack of trust the US president has in the Pakistani authorities. They may see his latest statement the same way.
Analysis
Pakistanis were hugely embarrassed not just by the discovery of Osama Bin Laden in the country, but even more, it appears, by the fact it was a unilaterally US mission that killed him.
Since then, there have been demonstrations, particularly by religious parties, against American military attacks in Pakistan, including the drone strikes that continue to target militants near the Afghan border.
The government and the army have said Washington must involve Islamabad when they target high-profile al-Qaeda and Taliban figures in the future.
But many will feel the way the Bin Laden operation was carried out exposed the lack of trust the US president has in the Pakistani authorities. They may see his latest statement the same way.
"We can't allow those kind of active plans to come to fruition without us taking some action."
Tense partnership Bin Laden, the Saudi-born leader of al-Qaeda, was killed in a raid by US Navy Seal commandos. They stormed the compound where he was living in Abbottabad, a town that is home to Pakistan's main military academy.The discovery that Bin Laden had been living there embarrassed the Pakistani military, and led to renewed suspicions that he had enjoyed protection from some members of the Pakistani security forces.
The Islamabad government strongly denied such suggestions and said the US raid had undermined the country's sovereignty.
A resolution approved by Pakistani MPs earlier this month said the country would "no longer tolerate such actions and a repeat of unilateral measures could have dire consequences for peace and security in the region and the world".
Pakistan has been a major ally in the war against militants in neighbouring Afghanistan.Continued
No comments:
Post a Comment