Pakistan has denied receiving any dossier from the United States, which purportedly described the failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad’s links with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), that was accompanied with the veiled US threat of action against terrorists on its soil.
“You better put this question to officials of the Interior Ministry, however, I confirm it to you that Foreign Office has not been consulted so for in this regard,” The Nation quoted a Foreign Office spokesman, as responding to a question whether Islamabad has received any dossier in connection with botched May 1 terror plot.
Earlier, a report in the Los Angeles Times said that the US has given a blunt message to Pakistan that it would be under “inevitable pressure” to take immediate and stern action if a successful terror attack is traced back to that country.
The report cited officials privy to the recent meeting between President Obama’s National Security Advisor James Jones,Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Leon Panetta and Pakistan’s political and military leadership, as saying that during the talks the top US officials told Islamabad in clear terms that it needed to intensify its crackdown in the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“We have been lucky in the past, but our luck will run out and in the future, we are likely to face successful attacks,” the newspaper quoted a senior U.S. intelligence official, as saying.
According to officials, both Jones and Panetta, during their Islamabad visit earlier this month, had told both the Pakistani civilian and military leadership that there was ‘hard’ evidence to prove that Faisal Shahzad, the confessed Times Square bomb plotter, received terror training by the TTP in the lawless tribal areas of the country along the Afghanistan border.
“The chart, which was assembled by U.S. intelligence agencies, showed who all he had contacts with, and drew clear links between Faisal Shahzad and the TTP leaders in Pakistan,” officials said.
Jones and Panetta did not spell out possible action the U.S. might take, however, the delegation did not rule out military action, said an official privy to the meeting.
According to experts and officials, US’ action would depend on the circumstances of an attack and the strength of the evidence implicating militants in Pakistan.
Former CIA official and a terrorism expert at the Brookings Institution, Bruce Riedel, said the pressure on the White House to act could be ‘overwhelming.’
“Professions by the Pakistanis that they are trying hard won”t cut it anymore,” Riedel said.
Pak won’t allow US to cross ‘red line’ under any circumstances: FO
Islamabad, Sep.18 (ANI): Amid reports of a massive expansion of the US’ Islamabad embassy, Pakistan has said that it would never allow the American troops to carry out military operations from its soil.
Addressing a weekly briefing Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said Islamabad would not allow the US to cross the ‘red line’ under any circumstance.
“We would not allow, under any circumstances, operations by US forces inside Pakistan. We have conveyed this several times to our US interlocutors and this is one of our red lines,” Basit said.
Referring to US Chief of Army Staff Admiral Mike Mullen’s statement that Pakistan is facing a threat both from the east and the west, Basit said Mullen’s comments were true in the sense that Pakistan ‘has issues with India and is simultaneously battling terrorism on the western border.’
Commenting on the Obama Administration’s decision to maintain the long standing accountability measures over the aid being provided to Pakistan, he said Islamabad also supports ‘transparency and accountability at every stage’, but asked the US to reduce the administrative cost of the proposed assistance.
“What we have been saying is that we would like to reduce the administrative cost … so that it is cost-effective and maximum benefits reach the people of Pakistan,” The Daily Times quoted Basit, as saying.
When asked about the US Ambassador Anne Patterson’s claims that America has so far provided three billion dollars as aid to Pakistan, he said: “I would refer you to the Finance Ministry, since it is better placed to answer this question.”
He also refused comment on a report that claimed the Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani had leaked classified information to an Indian media house.
“As you used the word ‘reportedly’, it will not be appropriate for me to comment in public on such official matters,” Basit said. (ANI)