Washington (CNN) - The United States is pressing Pakistani authorities for answers about how Osama bin Laden could have lived close to a major military base near Pakistan's capital without the government knowing, two senior U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The al Qaeda leader was living in a walled compound in Abbottabad, about 50 km (31 miles) north of Islamabad, when he was gunned down by American commandos in a pre-dawn raid Monday. The killing has left Pakistani officials facing sharp questions from Washington - and in some cases, from their own people - and exacerbated an already rocky relationship between the two nations.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official reacted angrily Wednesday to comments by CIA Director Leon Panetta, who told U.S. lawmakers in a closed-door session Tuesday that Pakistani officials were either "involved or incompetent" in bin Laden's case - and, "Neither is a good place to be."
The official, who did not want to be named, said his country had been generously sharing intelligence with its American counterparts.
"Of all people," the Pakistani official said, Panetta "knows how much we have been doing."
"What worse statement can come than that we heard from Panetta?" the official said. "I am afraid this statement is totally regrettable."
But the discovery of bin Laden, who was living in a three-story, walled home a short distance from a prestigious Pakistani military academy, has fueled calls by American lawmakers to re-examine the U.S.-Pakistani relationship.
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Post by: CNN Wire Staff Filed under: 360° Radar • 360º Follow • Osama bin Laden • Pakistan |
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I am still wondering why OBL didn't hear the helecopters when they landed at the compound.
Mr. Dershowitzs what would the photos show nothing, it will not show if he was sitting up or laying down. osama was a murder, and we did the right thing and if you think that we did something wrong stop judging because you cant have your way, Osama murder in cold blood so I guest you think it was okey for Osama. Stop trying to judge what the teams did, until you pickup a wepon and go into combat you have no idea on whats going on. Semper Fi.
Wat else can v expect frm this power hungry pak politicians?
why the rush to throw his body in the sea?
We can't handle bloody photos of Bin Laden? So you're telling me that there aren't photos of Bin Laden after having been cleaned up, on the slab on a US ship in preparation for his burial at sea that would confirm his death? I'm sure that there were numerous photos taken, from the time of the raid, to his burial at sea.