New Delhi: Jalil Abbas Jilani, Pakistan’s Ambassador to USA, now says that the slain Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden actually considered Islamabad an enemy and had plans to destroy the Islamic Republic.
Jilani made these remarks in a letter to Ted Poe, the Republican congressman who is holding a provocative hearing — “Pakistan: Friend or foe” — on Capitol Hill, which seeks to highlight Pakistan’s alleged support for terrorist groups.
According to a report published in The Dawn, Jilani further mentions in his letter that Pakistan was actually a ‘victim’ and not the perpetrator of terrorism.
“It has been established beyond doubt that he was hiding in Pakistan without information or any help by the state,” Jilani is believed to have written in the letter.
“No evidence to the contrary has ever surfaced and the US leadership involved in the specific operation at that time has clearly rejected any insinuation of Pakistan’s complicity,” he added.
Jilani has also pointed out that Admiral William McRaven, who supervised the US operation to kill Osama bin Laden, had also said later on that there was no evidence to suggest that Pakistani government was aware of Osama’s whereabouts.
“Documents collected from the Osama bin Laden’s compound tell another story. A brochure ‘Jihad in Pakistan’ reportedly written by bin Laden and released by office of US Director National Intelligence in March this year lists the reasons why bin Laden considered Pakistan as an enemy and outlines Al Qaeda’s elaborate strategy to destroy Pakistan,” Jilani wrote in the letter.
