Pakistan says told US about compound in 2009

Pakistan alerted the US to its suspicions about a compound where Osama Bin Laden was found hiding as far back as 2009, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir says.

osama_bin_laden_compound_pakistan_L_110504_getty_2058737348
Pakistan alerted the US to its suspicions about a compound where Osama Bin Laden was found hiding as far back as 2009, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said.

Bashir also hit out at "disquieting" comments by CIA Director Leon Panetta that US officials had ruled out informing Islamabad in advance about Sunday's US raid on the Pakistani compound which led to the Al-Qaeda chief's death.

Asked in a BBC radio interview about the compound in Abbottabad where the Al-Qaeda chief was discovered, Bashir said: "This particular location was pointed out by our intelligence quite some time ago to the US intelligence.

"Of course they have a much more sophisticated equipment to evaluate and to assess."

"We had indicated this compound as far back as 2009 as a possible place", Bashir added, although he added it was not known at the time Bin Laden was hiding there and there were "millions" of other suspect locations.

On Panetta's comments, the Pakistani official said: "I know for sure that we have extended every cooperation to the US including the CIA as well as to other countries so far as the campaign against terror is concerned.

"In terms of success in what is called global anti-terror, Pakistan has played a pivotal role so it is a little disquieting when we hear comments like this."

Bashir is the top official in Pakistan's foreign ministry and works under the Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.

On the decision not to inform Pakistan about the raid, Panetta told Time magazine that "it was decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardize the mission: They might alert the targets."


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AFP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world