US says it is not apologetic for unilateral Osama raid in Pak

From Lalit K Jha
Washington, May 10 (PTI) The US has said it was not
apologetic about its unilateral action of hunting down Osama
bin Laden on Pakistani soil but it wants the government of
that country to continue its cooperation in the war against
terror.
"We do not apologise for the action," White House
Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily news
conference Monday, hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf
Raza Gilani attacked the US for violating his country's
sovereignty.
Carney was asked about allegations by Gilani that the
United States has violated Pakistan's sovereignty last week
when its helicopters and special operation forces carried out
a covert operation some 60 kilometres from Islamabad that
killed bin Laden.
At the same time, the Obama Administration maintained
that it expects the Pakistan government to continue to
cooperate with the US in the 'war against terror'.
"This relationship is too important to walk away
from," Carney said when asked about the strain in the
relationship between the two countries.
"The relationship is important and complicated. It has
been cooperative in the past and we hope that it will continue
to do so," he said.
Carney said that Obama Administration is in
consultations with the Pakistan government at various levels
on a host of issues, including access to bin Laden's three
wives detained by the Pakistani authorities from the
Abbottabad hideout, and materials seized from there.
While acknowledging that there are differences between
the two countries on a host of issues, the White House
spokesman hoped that Pakistan would carry out a complete
investigation as to how bin Laden was successful in staying in
Abbottabad for so long.
The United States hopes that they will carry on the
investigation as this is in the interest of both countries.
"The United States and Pakistan have an important,
complicated relationship, as we've said. The cooperation that
we've had with Pakistan has been important for years now in
our fight against terrorism and terrorists. And more
terrorists have been killed on Pakistani soil because of that
cooperation than anywhere else in the world, and that's
important to note," Carney said.
Asked if the Obama Administration had confidence in
the leadership of Pakistan, Carney said investigators were
examining the substantial material recovered from bin Laden's
compound for evidence of the "support network" that must have
existed to allow him to continue to live in Abbottabad for so
long.
Carney said when the differences between the two
countries notwithstanding, the cooperation with Pakistan was
important to pursue al Qaeda.
"Which is not to say we don't have our differences,
because we do, we obviously do, and those differences are
frequently aired. But the fact of the matter is, that
relationship is important, the cooperation continues to be
important for the United States in order to pursue al Qaeda
and other terrorists as the war continues after the death of
Osama bin Laden," Carney said.
"We are in consultations with the Pakistani government
at many levels about the matter you raised, Osama bin Laden's
wives and some of the other materials that may have been
collected by the Pakistanis after the commando team left, and
we'll continue those conversations.
"We believe that it is very important to maintain a
cooperative relationship with Pakistan, precisely because it's
in our national security interest to do so," he added.