Cell Phone gives clues to bin Laden’s Pakistan links: report
WASHINGTON: A cell phone found in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan contained contacts to Harakatul Mujahedeen, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing senior US officials briefed on the findings.
The discovery indicated that bin Laden used the group as part of his support network inside Pakistan, the newspaper said, citing the officials and other sources it did not identify.
The cell phone belonged to bin Laden’s courier, who was killed along with the al Qaeda leader in the May 2 raid by US special forces on bin Laden’s compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad, the Times said.
“We cannot confirm this account,” a US official in Washington said when asked about the report.
The United States kept Islamabad in the dark about the raid by Navy SEALs until after it was completed.
In tracing calls on the cell phone, US analysts determined that Harakat commanders had called Pakistani intelligence officials, the Times reported, citing senior American officials.
The officials added the contacts were not necessarily about bin Laden and his protection and that there was no “smoking gun” showing that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had protected bin Laden, the newspaper said.
The newspaper quoted one of the officials as saying the cell phone analysis was a “serious lead” in the hunt for answers about how bin Laden managed to evade notice by Pakistan’s ISI or military for years in the town, only 30 miles from the capital.
The newspaper quoted analysts familiar with Harakat as saying it had deep roots in the area around Abbottabad. Its leaders have strong ties with both al Qaeda and the Pakistani intelligence, the Times said.
Pak Embassy issues 67 visas for USA CIA staff
WASHINGTON, June 22: The Pakistan Embassy here has issued 67 visas to CIA officials for deployment in Pakistan, embassy sources told Dawn on Wednesday.
The decision, according to these sources, followed an understanding between the two governments on CIA deployments and postings in Pakistan.
“Under the new arrangement, the CIA has accepted Islamabad’s demand that all intelligence postings in the country should be fully disclosed, and shared with the Pakistani government,” the sources said. “Pakistan agreed to issue the visas only after an understanding on full disclosures.”
The agreement was reached after talks in Islamabad earlier this month between ISI chief Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha and top CIA
officials, including CIA Director Leon Panetta.
“Now the ISI will be fully aware of who is doing what and where he is posted at,” a diplomatic source said. “There will be no room for misunderstanding and suspicions.”
Pakistan, Indian foreign secretaries hold first round of talks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India on Thursday held first round of Foreign Secretary level talks here at Foreign Office and discussed in detail peace and security issues.
Secretary External Affairs of India Nirupama Rao led her delegation while Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir led his side in the talks which will also continue on Friday.
The main focus of tomorrow's talks will be on the Jammu and Kashmir issue, said Foreign Office officials.
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao arrived here in the morning to hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart.
The meeting between the two foreign secretaries is part of the resumption of dialogue process following a meeting between Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh in Thimpu, Bhutan in April last year on the sidelines of SAARC Summit.
Pakistan and India, which have fought three wars since independence, had been engaged in talks but the process was halted following the November 2008 attack in Mumbai and it was revived after the meeting of two prime ministers in Thimpu last year.
It is expected that the two sides will also finalize the dates for the meeting of two foreign ministers that will be held in New Delhi next month in which the progress made at the meetings of different secretary level talks will be reviewed for taking final decisions.
The resumed dialogue process is underway in pursuance of the mandate given by the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, following their meeting in Thimphu in April, 2010 and the meeting of foreign ministers of the two countries in Islamabad in July, 2010 and the earlier meeting between Foreign Secretaries in Thimphu on February 6, 2011 with a view to carry forward the dialogue process.
The Indian Secretary for External Affairs in a statement on her arrival here said she would work towards building trust and confidence between the nations.
Nirupama Rao said, "I have come to Pakistan with an open mind and a constructive spirit in order to work towards building trust and confidence in our relationship and thereby leading to an eventual normalization of relations for the well-being and prosperity of our two peoples."
She said, "This is an important visit as it marks the penultimate leg of the resumed dialogue process before the visit of the Foreign Minister of Pakistan to India by July 2011."
Rao said, "I bring with me the best wishes of the people and Government of India for the people and Government of Pakistan. We wish to see a stable, peaceful and prosperous Pakistan."
She said, "We hope to discuss the issues that have been mandated to us by our leadership, namely peace and security, including CBMs, Jammu and Kashmir and promotion of friendly exchanges."
Mohammed Saleem Mansoori
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