President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday denied the suggestion that the government sheltered bin Laden before he was killed in a U.S.
Two men killed with Osama bin Laden on Sunday night in Pakistan's Abbottabad have been identified as Arshad and Tariq Khan. According to media reports they both are Pakistanis. Osama bin Laden's neighbours said, the two men were some low-key businessman and were probably brothers or cousins.
The tight security cordon that had been thrown up around the heavily fortified, three-story mansion where bin Laden apparently evaded detection for years melted away Tuesday. The media that have descended on this town nestled in the green-carpeted hills of northwest Pakistan were finally given a close-up view of the bin Laden compound from the outside.
Lawmakers are raising questions, too. Republican senator Bob Corker has written to secretary of state Hillary Clinton, asking for details - "whether or not the Pakistanis had knowledge that he was there and did not share that knowledge". Two other senators - Republican Ted Poe and Democrat Frank Lautenberg - want further aid to Pakistan.
What Islamabad knew about bin Laden residing for years in a town that is home to the country's top military academy two hours from the capital is a question that deeply troubles Washington. U.S. lawmakers are threatening a review of billions of dollars in U.S. aid that flows to Pakistan.
Bin Laden's demise is the end of a chapter. But it is the beginning of new round of deepening tension between the Unites States and nuclear-armed ally Pakistan.
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