Can get back to business after Davis' release, US to Pak

The US has made it clear that it can 'get back to business' with Pakistan after the release of suspected CIA contractor Raymond Davis, whose arrest in Lahore on murder charges for gunning down two men has become a major irritant in bilateral ties.


During meetings with Pakistan's top leadership yesterday, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman said Washington wanted the immediate release of Davis and that there would be no business as usual until the matter is resolved.

'I'm confident that we can resolve this (Davis) problem and once we do we can get back to business...we can build the relationship between the US and Pakistan,' Grossman said during an interaction with a group of journalists last night.

Grossman repeatedly said the US administration wanted the immediate release of Davis, who was arrested in Lahore on 27 January after he shot dead two armed men he claimed were trying to rob him.

Police rejected Davis' claim of acting in self defence and booked him for murder.

The matter was complicated following reports in western media that Davis was a security contractor working for the CIA.

Separately, reports said the two men Davis killed were operatives of the ISI.

Pakistan's leadership, facing pressure from religious groups, has rebuffed US demands to free Davis and said that his case will be settled by the courts.

The Obama administration continues to insist that Davis should be freed, even though the US needs Pakistan's help for the military campaign in Afghanistan as well as a negotiated settlement in that war-torn country.

Grossman said Pakistan and the US need to remove the 'irritant' of Davis' arrest from their relationship and reminded the Pakistani leadership that both countries 'are best served when we stand together'.

Emphasising the importance of the two sides working in consonance, Grossman said this was also crucial for restoring peace in Afghanistan through a negotiated solution and ensuring stability in the region.

Even as Grossman said Pakistan and the US wanted a mutually beneficial relationship that could enable Pakistan to become stable, democratic and prosperous by freeing itself from extremist violence, he stressed that the real challenge was to determine what constituted the 'mutual interest' that could form the basis of enduring ties.

He said his discussions with Pakistani interlocutors 'underscores...the central point and that is the relationship is based on mutual interest and the challenge obviously is to find that mutual interest, we have to identify that and we are clearly on that'.

Referring to Afghanistan, Grossman called for Pakistan's support for the Afghan-led reconciliation process but one that joined 'both the US and Pakistan' -- an apparent indication that Washington would not accept any move by Islamabad to back groups like the Haqqani network in efforts to find a solution.

In his meetings with Pakistani leaders, Grossman said he had noted the link between the insurgency in Afghanistan and terrorist safe havens in Pakistan's tribal belt and demanded the eradication of these sanctuaries.
The Afghan reconciliation process relies on Pakistan 'taking decisive action' against the Taliban's activities from Pakistani territory, he said.

During their meetings with Grossman, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani sought to quell tensions with the US over the arrest of Davis and said the two countries should focus on long-term strategic ties and restoring confidence and trust in key areas, including intelligence sharing.

Osama had support system in Pak: US

The US troops were prepared to capture him alive, but his resistance and use of a woman, presumed to be his wife, as shield forced them to kill the al-Qaeda chief.

'I think it's inconceivable that bin Laden did not have a support system in the country that allowed him to remain there for an extended period of time,' Deputy National Security Advisor for Counter-terrorism and Homeland Security John Brennan told reporters at a crowded White House news conference here.

'I am not going to speculate about what type of support he might have had on an official basis inside of Pakistan,' he said.
Bin Laden was shot dead yesterday in a pre-dawn helicopter-borne secret US operation in a house just yards away from Pakistan's Military Academy in Abbottabad, raising questions whether the establishment knowingly harboured him.

'We are closely talking to the Pakistanis right now. And, again, we are leaving open opportunities to continue to pursue whatever leads might be out there,' Brennan said responding to questions on how the most wanted terrorist was found in one of the most affluent neighborhoods of Islamabad, which is residences of top retired military officials.

'People have been referring to this as hiding in plain sight. Clearly, this was something that was considered as a possibility. Pakistan is a large country. We are looking right now at how he was able to hold out there for so long and whether or not there was any type of support system within Pakistan that allowed him to stay there,' Brennan said.

'We know that the people at the compound there were working on his behalf, and that's how we ultimately found our way to the compound. But we are right now less than 24 hours after this operation, so we are talking with the Pakistanis on a regular basis now. And we're going to pursue all leads to find out exactly what type of support system and benefactors that bin Laden might have had,' he said.

Brennan said following the conclusion of the successful operation, a number of senior US officials are in regular contact now with their Pakistani counterparts.

'We are continuing to engage with them. We're engaging with them today as we learn more about the compound and whatever type of support system bin Laden had.'

Brennan said the fact that bin Laden was found so close to the capital raises questions. 'There are a lot of people within the Pakistani government, and I'm not going to speculate about who or if any of them had fore-knowledge about bin Laden being in Abbottabad. But certainly his location there outside of the capital raises questions. We are talking to the Pakistanis about this,' he said.

'But they, at least in our discussions with them, seem  as surprised as we were initially that bin Laden was holding out in that area,' he added.

Brennan said the US troops were prepared to capture bin Laden alive, but his resistance and use of a woman, presumed to be his wife, as shield forced them to kill him.

'If we had the opportunity to take bin Laden alive, if he didn't present any threat, the individuals involved were able and prepared to do that. We had discussed that extensively in a number of meetings in the White House and with the (US) President,' he said.

'We were not going to put our people at risk. The President put a premium on making sure that our personnel were protected, and we were not going to give bin Laden or any of his cohorts the opportunity to carry out lethal fire on our forces. He was engaged, and he was killed in the process. But if we had the opportunity to take him alive, we would have done that,' he said.

Brennan said the course of action and the subsequent decisions were made over the course of the last several months.

'It was looked at from the standpoint of, if we captured him, what would we do with him, where would he go. If he was killed, what would we do with him and where would he go?' he added.

Besides bin Laden, the two al-Qaeda facilitators - who were the courier, his son Khalid and a woman presumed to be his wife, died in the operations.