Hillary warns Pakistan of ‘severe consequences’

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WASHINGTON, May 8: The consequences for Pakistan would be very serious if a terror attempt like the failed Times Square bombing were to succeed and was found to have originated in that country, warns US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In an interview to CBS News, the top US diplomat said that Washington had already conveyed this message to Islamabad and hoped that Pakistan understood how seriously the United States took such threats.

The car bomb that fizzled out in Times Square last week was planted by Faisal Shahzad, a naturalised American citizen born in Pakistan. Shahzad has reportedly told interrogators that he received terrorist training in North Waziristan.

On Friday, Gen David Petraeus, who oversees America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, told a US news agency he believed Shahzad was a ‘lone wolf.’ He said that so far there was no indication that Shahzad worked with others in concocting the terror attack or the homemade bomb.

Mrs Clinton’s remarks, however, appear to indicate that she believes Shahzad had links to others and the planning for the attack was done in Pakistan.

But she also combined her caveat with praise for Pakistan, noting that Islamabad’s attitude towards fighting extremists had changed remarkably.

“I have to stand up for the efforts of the Pakistani government,” she said. “We’ve gotten more cooperation and it’s been a real sea change in the commitment we’ve seen from the Pakistan government. [But] We want more. We expect more.” And then came the warning that has alarmed the Pakistani community in America. “We have made it very clear that if, heaven-forbid, an attack like this that we can trace back to Pakistan were to have been successful, there would be very severe consequences,” she said.

Like others in the Pakistani community, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, Maleeha Lodhi, said she too was surprised by Secretary Clinton’s remarks.

“This statement seems to be at odds with the Obama administration’s mature and calm handling of the situation,” she said.

“Other officials have been careful in their utterances to prevent the possibility of any public backlash against the Pakistani community or Muslims in America.” The US secretary of state observed that since America’s relationship with Pakistan turned around, the results were encouraging.

“We also have a much better relationship, military to military, intelligence to intelligence, government to government than we had before,” said Mrs Clinton.

The secretary accused Pakistan of playing “a double game” with the United States in the past.

“I think that there was a double game going on in the previous years, where we got a lot of lip service but very little produced,” she said. But this attitude changed soon after the Obama administration came to power, she added.

“We’ve got a lot produced. We have seen the killing or capturing of a great number of the leadership of significant terrorist groups and we’re going to continue that.” Meanwhile, The Washington Post, CBS News and other US media outlets reported that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had sent its agent to Pakistan to probe the bombing.

Officials who spoke with the media said the agents were there to assist the Pakistani intelligence and law-enforcement agencies. They would also probe Shahzad’s possible links in that country.

The FBI has full-time legal attaches assigned in Pakistan to seek information that may have investigative value in the US. The agents will also see if the attempt was financed in Pakistan.

On Thursday, the Pakistani Taliban denied links to Shahzad. The group had claimed responsibility for the failed attack.

In separate comments on Friday, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the US was ready to offer as much military training and assistance to the Pakistan as Islamabad was willing to accept.

Mr Gates renewed praise for recent Pakistani army offensives against militants, saying the efforts were “much more than any of us would have expected 18 months or two years ago.”


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