ISLAMABAD:
The damage to Pakistan’s credibility in the aftermath of the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden is not restricted to its relations with the United States: the government of Saudi Arabia is also reported to be deeply disturbed to learn that the al Qaeda chief lived in Abbottabad for five years, forcing the Foreign Office to try and pacify the Saudis.
“Islamabad has communicated to Riyadh that it was purely a failure of intelligence that Pakistan was unable to locate Osama Bin Laden,” said one official familiar with the matter.
The Saudis are reported to be very concerned by the fact that the terrorist mastermind was able to live less than two miles from Pakistan’s top military academy for five years before ultimately being found and killed by US forces. One of al Qaeda’s earliest stated goals was the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy. Osama Bin Laden was a Saudi citizen before being stripped of this status in 1994.
The recent visit by Interior Minister Rehman Malik with King Abdullah in Riyadh was part of the diplomatic offensive by Pakistan to try and calm down the Saudis.
Malik delivered a letter on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari to the Saudi king and explained the Bin Laden situation in detail to senior Saudi diplomatic, military and intelligence officials, including Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal.
The interior minister admitted an intelligence failure but was quick to state categorically that Bin Laden was not being protected by any government agency within Pakistan. He drew the analogy of how US intelligence agencies failed to prevent 9/11, noting that the failure did not indicate that US intelligence agencies were protecting the terrorists who carried out the attack.
Malik promised that Pakistan would share the results of any inquiry into the incident with its allies, including Saudi Arabia. Islamabad and Riyadh have a long history of intelligence cooperation, including on counter-terrorism.
Saudi Arabia’s apprehensions over Bin Laden’s stay in Pakistan have been conveyed not just through diplomatic channels but also in the Saudi media. In a hard-hitting editorial, the leading Saudi English-language daily, Arab News, questioned Pakistan’s credibility on counter-terrorism and demanded an immediate inquiry into the military and intelligence failures that allowed Bin Laden to live unnoticed in Pakistan for over five years.
Riyadh’s apprehensions, over the Bin Laden stay in Abbottabad were expressed to Pakistan through diplomatic channels and by the Kingdom’s media after the killing of Al-Qaeda chief who also masterminded several militant attacks in Saudi Arabia.
“The ISI, long been accused of harbouring elements sympathetic to al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban, has either been grossly incompetent or it has been complicit in his [Bin Laden’s] presence. It has to be one or the other. There is no other explanation,” said the newspaper in its editorial.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 23rd, 2011.
COMMENTS (6)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ