Islamabad, May 05: A US analyst says Pakistan was aware of the US plan to kill al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in an operation near a Pakistani military camp northwest of the capital, Islamabad.
“I think the Pakistani government knew fully well that the United States’ forces were coming to that house in order to kill Osama bin Laden, but they did not want to accept the responsibility,” said Liaquat Ali Khan, author and professor of law at Washburn University’s School from Kansa, in an interview with Press TV’s US Desk on May 4.
The US president claimed on May 1 that a small, elite US force had killed bin Laden in an operation on Sunday inside a secured private residential compound in Pakistan’s Abbottabad.
Pakistan, however, insists that it was unaware of bin Laden’s lair and the raid.
The professor said that it is inconceivable that American aircraft could “fly over [Pakistani] land and then safely go back without the armed forces of the Pakistani government knowing anything about them.”
“What if a second attack occurs from India? Do you think these (Pakistani) forces will not know that Indian airplanes or Indian helicopters have come in to attack a nuclear site or some other target?” Ali Khan asked.
“So it is a perfect match between the two governments who are lying to their people and to the world,” he said.
Ali Khan has also touched on the issue of US President Barack Obama’s sagging popularity ahead of the presidential election, saying bin Laden’s assassination “gives all the credit to President Obama who wants to be re-elected.”
According to the latest poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News, Obama has gained a higher public approval rating, as well as higher marks for his handling of “foreign policy” and “antiterrorism” issues since Sunday.
However, a recent poll conducted, just before the announcement on bin Laden’s killing, by The Washington Post and ABC News reflected a declining public approval of Obama’s war strategies.
——–Agencies