NSA says Islamabad must investigate support network that sustained bin Laden.
Washington wants access to Osama widows detained in Pakistan.
The White House has demanded Pakistan investigate the support network that sustained Osama bin Laden, but one week after killing the al Qaeda chief the United States says there is no proof Islamabad knew of his hideout.
"There was some support network in Abbottabad, Pakistan with the support of bin Laden," White House National Security Advisor Tom Donilon told NBC Sunday talk show "Meet The Press." "We haven't seen evidence that the government knew about that. But they need to investigate that." Donilon stressed that, despite the fugitive terror chief hiding for years in a three-storey house near the capital Islamabad, "I've not seen evidence that would tell us that the political, the military, or the intelligence leadership had foreknowledge of bin Laden."
"The second point though, is the fact which you're alluding to, is that Osama bin Laden was in this town for six years, 50 kilometers away from the capitol of Pakistan –Islamabad. This needs to be investigated."
He added that despite difficulties in the US-Pakistani relationship, "We've also had to work very closely with Pakistan in our counter-terror efforts." Donilon, like US intelligence officials on Sunday, described the data haul from the raid as the richest terrorism treasure trove ever collected. "This is the largest cache of intelligence derived from the scene of any single terrorist," he said. "It's about the size, the CIA tells us, of a small college library.
Donilon said the US wants access to three widows of bin Laden being held by Pakistani authorities. Pakistan authorities were not immediately available for comment on the demand, which could be a fresh sticking point between the two countries.
While killing bin Laden is a significant US victory, Donilon cautioned: "we can't declare al Qaeda strategically defeated." "They continue to be a threat to the US." The White House rowed back Sunday on earlier plans for President Obama to visit Pakistan this year. Last October, Obama committed himself to visiting Pakistan in 2011, but those plans now appear to be in flux as relations become increasingly strained by suspicions over who in Islamabad knew what about bin Laden's whereabouts. "There is not a visit on his schedule at this point to go to Pakistan," Donilon.
Daily Times (Lahore), May 9, 2011, http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\05\09\story_9-5-2011_pg1_1
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