By IANS,
London: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told Britain’s Gordon Brown Thursday he doesn’t think Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is hiding in his country.
After a meeting with Brown, the Pakistani premier dismissed an earlier suggestion from Brown that his country should do more to hunt down Bin Laden.
Gilani praised America’s cooperation with Pakistan on security issues but he said Pakistan had yet to be given any “credible or actionable information” on Bin Laden.
“I doubt the information which you are giving is correct because I don’t think Osama Bin Laden is in Pakistan,” he said.
Brown ruffled feathers in Islamabad last week by complaining that Pakistan had been unable to track down Bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri eight years after the attacks of 9/11.
Western intelligence officials believe both men are holed up in the tribal areas of northern Pakistan.
Brown praised Gilani Thursday for his leadership in taking the fight against the Al Qaeda to the Swat Valley and South Waziristan, and acknowledged the “huge sacrifices” made by Pakistan.
“I think it’s important that the prime minister has signalled, as he has done in recent months, the real importance that Pakistan attaches to dealing with these problems and I can assure him of the UK’s full support in this matter,” Brown said.