Pak says govt, military united; capable of protecting nation

Karachi, May 4 (PTI) Two days after US special forces
killed Osama bin Laden in a unilateral military action on its
soil, Pakistan Wednesday said its government and military were
united and capable of protecting the country.
This was stated by Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman
Malik here after reporters peppered him with questions about
the US raid against the al-Qaeda chief in Abbbotabad on Monday
without the involvement or knowledge of the Pakistani military
or security agencies.
Pakistan's political forces and the people needed to
be united, he said. "We need unity amongst us at this stage.
Whatever happened is before everyone and details are still
unfolding. But despite everything that has happened let me
make it clear we are not part of any terrorism."
Malik said the country's military, intelligence,
security and law enforcement agencies and the government were
united and perfectly capable of protecting the country.
"We are fighting a war against terror and there are
people spreading terrorism from within the country. But we are
fighting this war and in such a scenario incidents take place
but we have to tolerate them in larger interest of war on
terror," he said.
The minister said that no one should doubt Pakistan's
intentions or role in the war on terror.
He said the Foreign Office has given a detailed
statement on the incident and that is also the point of view
of government.
"Whatever happened we are still getting details but
it was a high value target," Malik said and called on the
people to remain united and not get depressed.
In its statement last night, the Foreign Office called
the US commando operation an "unauthorised unilateral action"
without its knowledge but remained silent on the point whether
its establishment and intelligence agencies knew about the
presence of al-Qaeda chief in Abbottabad and whether he was
enjoying any support system.
It said Pakistan's army and intelligence agencies have
played a vital role in breaking the back of al-Qaeda and other
terrorist groups in the country as well as in the world.
Asked about the statements from the Indian government
on Pakistan's role in the war on terror, Malik said that
Islamabad had conveyed to the Indians that "unnecessary"
statements on Pakistan should not be issued.
"Yes we have read what the Indians have said and we
say if they have any issues or problems they should sit down
and discuss these things with us instead of giving
statements," Malik said.
Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram, after the killing
of bin Laden, had noted that the al-Qaeda chief had been
killed by US forces "deep inside Pakistan" and said this
underlined India's "concern that terrorists belonging to
different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan".