Thaindian News

Islamabad, May 6 (IANS) A leading Pakistani daily admits frankly that “we ourselves are primarily at fault” over the intelligence failure on Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who was killed by US commandos.

Osama was killed May 2 by US special forces who stormed the Al Qaeda leader’s hideout in Abbottabad city.

An editorial in the Dawn Friday said it was difficult to accept Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s statement that the entire world and not just Pakistan should share the blame for the intelligence failure.

“Such a claim would have been easier to digest had bin Laden been discovered hiding out in a remote sanctuary in the tribal belt which lives by its own rules….Instead, he was found living in a fortified compound in a residential area in Abbottabad, and at a stone’s throw away from the country`s top military academy.”

It said: “…yes, the intelligence failure on our part cannot be denied. It resulted in a national embarrassment of monumental proportions, and it is unfair to spread the blame around when we ourselves are primarily at fault.”

Commenting on the US-Pakistan ties, the editorial said that Washington pursues “a carrot-and-stick policy”.

“The signals that Pakistan has so far got from Washington are that the latter would, in fact, want to continue counter-terrorism cooperation.”

It went on to say that joint cooperation is in the interest of both countries “that have, after all, a common enemy. Nothing else can eradicate the danger they face”.

“Continued acrimony at this stage will hurt both Islamabad and Washington and benefit those who wish to destabilise our respective ways of life.”