US Senators advise cautious approach over Pakistan

US Senate holds hearing over Bin Laden killing.

WASHINGTON: US Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, the committee's top Republican, voiced deep concern at the possibility that Pakistan protected bin Laden but said they would wait for a probe.

"Nothing obviously would excuse the harboring of the number one criminal in the world, but we need to explore carefully what exactly the facts are," Kerry, the chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a close ally of President Barack Obama, said at the Senate hearing.

Kerry said that the United States needed Pakistan's assistance to pursue extremists in the future and to supply the 100,000 US troops stationed in Afghanistan.

"A legitimate analysis concludes that it is undeniable that our relationship with Pakistan has helped us pursue our security goals," Kerry said. He added that the United States needed to be mindful of the political problems of President Asif Ali Zardari, a civilian who took over in 2008 after a decade of military-backed rule, as he works with the United States.

Kerry and Lugar, along with Representative Howard Berman, authored a 2009 bill that authorized $7.5 billion for Pakistan to build roads, schools and other institutions in the hope of boosting democratic institutions.

A number of US lawmakers have questioned aid to Pakistan, saying they could not justify it to voters at a time of US budget-cutting after bin Laden was found a short drive away from the country's top military academy.

Lugar echoed Kerry, saying that a lessening of relations with Pakistan would weaken US intelligence gathering and impede US efforts to encourage dialogue between Pakistan and its historic rival India. Cutting off assistance to Pakistan would be "unwise and extremely dangerous," Lugar said.