Pakistan: We’re not that stupid, America

Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani yesterday rejected allegations that the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. troops in the country showed Pakistani incompetence or complicity in hiding the al Qaeda leader.

Opposition politicians have stepped up their criticism of Pakistan’s leaders over the killing of bin Laden in a raid by U.S. special forces in a northern Pakistani town on May 2.

Pakistan welcomed the death of bin Laden as a step in the fight against militancy, but also complained that the raid was a violation of its sovereignty.

The fact that bin Laden was found hiding in the garrison town of Abbottabad, 30 miles from the capital, has led to accusations that Pakistani security agencies were either incompetent or sheltering the world’s most wanted man.

“Allegations of complicity or incompetence are absurd,” Gilani said in a televised address.