Pakistan on Tuesday summoned the US Chargé dAffaires in Islamabad to protest against remarks made by President Donald Trump who has criticized Pakistans role in fighting terrorism fight and the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Trumps comments over the last few days have angered Pakistan, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, who on Monday hit back at Trump by saying on Twitter that few allies have sacrificed or helped the United States as much as Pakistan in its war on terror.
Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2018
The friction threatens to further worsen already fragile relations between Islamabad and Washington, on-off allies who have repeatedly clashed about the war in Afghanistan and Pakistans alleged support for extremist militants.
“The Foreign Secretary called in the US CdA Ambassador Paul Jones to register a strong protest on the unwarranted and unsubstantiated allegations made against Pakistan,” Pakistans Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Over the weekend, Trump said in an interview Pakistan doesnt “do a damn thing” for the United States despite billions of dollars in US aid, and alleged Pakistani officials knew former al Qaeda leader bin Ladens location before his killing by US troops in a raid inside Pakistan in 2011.
….We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. Thats ENDING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2018
On Monday, Trump tweeted again and doubled down on those claims.
“Rejecting the insinuations about OBL, Foreign Secretary reminded the US CdA that it was Pakistans intelligence cooperation that provided the initial evidence to trace the whereabouts of OBL,” the ministry said, adding that “baseless rhetoric about Pakistan was totally unacceptable”.
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Last Update: Tuesday, 20 November 2018 KSA 11:57 – GMT 08:57
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