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Islamabad to Take Action on its Own Over Osama Presence
 ISLAMABAD Commenting on references to Pakistan by the two US presidential hopefuls in their debate in Tennessee on Tuesday the Pakistan government reiterated that if it will take action on its own on reports of Osama bin Ladens presence within its border.
If we have any knowledge of Osamas location within our borders it goes without saying that, we will take action ourselves, Information Minister Sherry Rehman told reporters here.
| Uh-huh. Just getting around to finding out that Binny is hiding out near Peshawar, are you ... |
She asked Pakistans allies to share intelligence over any high-value targets. We will pursue them on the ground. However, we will not allow anyone to challenge our sovereignty and no country should violate Pakistans territorial integrity, she said.
| "Nope, nope, can't do that, nope, nope ..." |
Though media reports highlighted Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obamas statement with headlines that the US forces will launch strikes inside Pakistan, officials here said Obamas remarks have been twisted by a section of the Pakistani media as well as his Republican rival John McCain even though he made it conditional to Pakistani response. Despite sparring over Pakistan in their second debate, the two candidates ended up saying the same thing, though in somewhat different words, an official here said.
While Barack Obama said the United States should only take action inside Pakistan if the government there was unable or unwilling to do so, Republican Senator John McCain was more conciliatory, recommending that the US used soft language with Pakistan but carry a big stick.
Obama was at pains to establish that contrary to McCains charge, he had never threatened to invade Pakistan. He said: I want to be very clear about what I said. Nobody called for the invasion of Pakistan. Senator McCain continues to repeat this.
| Because Senator McCain is correct ... |
Both candidates favoured working with Pakistan in the hunt for Al Qaeda and other groups allegedly operating out of Pakistans tribal areas into Afghanistan. They were both equally determined as to how they would deal with Osama bin Laden.
Posted by: Steve White 2008-10-10 |
