News / International
Pakistan arrests CIA's Osama bin Laden informants
15 Jun 2011 at 03:43hrs | Views
Pakistan's top military spy agency has arrested five informants who fed information to the CIA before the raid last month that killed Osama bin Laden, the New York Times has reported.
One of the detainees was reported to be a Pakistani army major who officials said copied licence plates of cars visiting the al-Qaida leader's compound 30 miles north-west of Islamabad.
The fate of the CIA informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear, the newspaper reported, citing American officials.
Outgoing CIA director Leon Panetta raised the issue of the informants' detention during a trip to Islamabad last week, where he met with Pakistani military and intelligence officers, the Times said.
Some in Washington see the arrests as another sign of the disconnect between US and Pakistani priorities in the fight against extremists, the newspaper reported.
The US kept Islamabad in the dark about the 2 May raid by Navy Seals until after it was completed, humiliating Pakistan's armed forces and putting US military and intelligence ties under strain.
Last week, at a closed Senate intelligence committee briefing, Michael Morell, the deputy director of the CIA, rated Pakistan's co-operation with the US on counterterrorism operations a "three" on a scale of one to 10, the New York Times reported, citing officials familiar with the exchange.
Other officials cautioned that his comments did not represent the administration's overall assessment, the paper added. "We have a strong relationship with our Pakistani counterparts and work through issues when they arise," CIA spokesman Marie Harf said.
"Director Panetta had productive meetings last week in Islamabad. It's a crucial partnership, and we will continue to work together in the fight against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups who threaten our country and theirs."
Asked about the reported arrests, a CIA spokeswoman neither confirmed or denied it and said she had no further comment.
Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, was quoted as saying that the CIA and the Pakistani spy agency "are working out mutually agreeable terms for their co-operation in fighting the menace of terrorism. It is not appropriate for us to get into the details at this stage".
One of the detainees was reported to be a Pakistani army major who officials said copied licence plates of cars visiting the al-Qaida leader's compound 30 miles north-west of Islamabad.
The fate of the CIA informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear, the newspaper reported, citing American officials.
Outgoing CIA director Leon Panetta raised the issue of the informants' detention during a trip to Islamabad last week, where he met with Pakistani military and intelligence officers, the Times said.
Some in Washington see the arrests as another sign of the disconnect between US and Pakistani priorities in the fight against extremists, the newspaper reported.
Last week, at a closed Senate intelligence committee briefing, Michael Morell, the deputy director of the CIA, rated Pakistan's co-operation with the US on counterterrorism operations a "three" on a scale of one to 10, the New York Times reported, citing officials familiar with the exchange.
Other officials cautioned that his comments did not represent the administration's overall assessment, the paper added. "We have a strong relationship with our Pakistani counterparts and work through issues when they arise," CIA spokesman Marie Harf said.
"Director Panetta had productive meetings last week in Islamabad. It's a crucial partnership, and we will continue to work together in the fight against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups who threaten our country and theirs."
Asked about the reported arrests, a CIA spokeswoman neither confirmed or denied it and said she had no further comment.
Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, was quoted as saying that the CIA and the Pakistani spy agency "are working out mutually agreeable terms for their co-operation in fighting the menace of terrorism. It is not appropriate for us to get into the details at this stage".
Source - Reuters
