AFP - U.S. Senator John Kerry, appointed by President Barack Obama, and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad said Monday that both countries wanted to restore mutual confidence after the crisis resulting from the elimination of Osama bin Laden .
"We are strategic partners with a common enemy," said U.S. Senator John Kerry.
After assuring that the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would announce "soon" a visit to Islamabad, Mr.Kerry said he had "explained" to the heads of the Pakistani army and state and government, he was "here with the support of President Barack Obama (...) to rebuild confidence between (our) two countries. "
The Democratic chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate, is the first senior U.S. official to visit Pakistan since a helicopter-borne U.S. commandos killed the leader of al-Qaida May 2 in Abbottabad, a city-garrison two hours drive north of Islamabad.
This attack, "illegal" according to Islamabad, caused a stir at a population overwhelmingly anti-American, not for the death of bin Laden, who has raised little protest, but for the "violation of sovereignty" Pakistan.
For their part, officials and prominent U.S. lawmakers have accused Pakistani authorities of incompetence at best, complicity at worst after learning that the leader of al-Qaeda had been hiding for years in a city- garrison, more so near the capital of Pakistan, its key ally in its "war against terrorism."
In a statement, Mr Gilani followed the lead of Mr.Kerry, "stressing the need for mutual trust, mutual interest and respect the sovereignty of Pakistan to strengthen the national consensus on the war against terrorism in order to finally achieve our common goal of defeating the forces of terror. "
"Pakistan is involved in the full solution to ensure lasting peace in the region and it is the strong interest of Pakistan and the United States to rebuild trust between their governments and institutions," concluded chief of the Pakistani government.
The CIA, which conducted the commando operation on 2 May, said she had not warned the Pakistani authorities for fear of leakage.U.S. officials have since reported suspicion of "complicity" in the military and intelligence community to explain the presence of brain attacks of Sept. 11 in a city housing more than 10,000 soldiers.
For its part, Pakistan, protesting feebly since 2004 against the very frequent firing missiles CIA drones targeting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the tribal areas of northwest, bordering Afghanistan, has raised its voice after the raid against bin Laden. He threatened to Washington to review its policy of cooperation on counterterrorism if such an incursion happened again.
