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Pakistan Defends Intelligence Service, Counterterrorism Record

   VOA News  May 05, 2011

   Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir addresses a news conference
   at the Foreign Office in Islamabad, Pakistan, May 5, 2011.

   Pakistan says accusations that its intelligence service or members of
   its government are working with al-Qaida are false, and that its
   counterterrorsim record is unmatched.
   Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Thursday defended the work
   of Pakistan's military and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency,
   following the U.S. operation early Monday that killed Osama bin Laden.
   Bashir said calling the ISI a failure for not knowing about bin Laden's
   hideout in the town of Abbottabad is an unfair judgment.

   He said there was information within the U.S. system about the men who
   were responsible for the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, but it is
   not his place to call that a failure of U.S. intelligence.
   Bashir also said U.S. and Pakistani sources confirmed the man killed in
   Monday's raid was indeed bin Laden.
   Bashir also said Thursday the United States is an important friend of
   Pakistan, and his country appreciates comments by President Barack
   Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirming that
   relationship.

   He offered some new details about the Pakistani military's response to
   the operation that killed bin Laden, saying that the military first
   knew something was happening when one of the U.S. helicopters crashed.

   Video of bin Laden compound in Abottabad, Pakistan

   Pakistan's air force responded by sending two F-16 jets, he said, but
   by the time they arrived at the site the operation was over and the
   American forces were gone.

   Also Thursday, Clinton said the battle to stop al-Qaida and its
   affiliates does not end with bin Laden's death, and that Pakistan is an
   important partner in counterterrorism efforts.
   Speaking in Rome, Clinton said the U.S. relationship with Pakistan is
   not always easy, but is productive for both countries.

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