Did Pakistan help hide bin Laden?

The U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda's leader took place in a city crawling with Pakistani soldiers. Was someone inside the country's government helping him avoid capture?

The compound where Osama bin Laden was killed is roughly adjacent to an army academy in the military-heavy town of Abbottabad, fueling debate over Pakistan's knowledge of his whereabouts.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood)

Pakistani leaders reacted cautiously to news that U.S. special forces had killed Osama bin Laden on their soil Sunday. The country's foreign ministry released a statement saying the al Qaeda leader's death demonstrated the resolve of global allies to fight terrorists. But the news that bin Laden was hiding out in a specially constructed compound in a key military town, immediately fueled suspicions that members of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) had been helping the terrorist leader avoid capture. President Obama credited Pakistan with helping track down bin Laden, but he didn't alert Pakistan to the raid beforehand, presumably so no one could tip off al Qaeda. Were Pakistan's military and intelligence service really unaware of bin Laden's location?

Clearly, Pakistani officials helped hide bin Laden: "Bin Laden wasn't hiding in some dank cave," says Matt Gurney in Canada's National Post. He was in a fortified, newly built mansion "within a 10 minute walk — a mere thousand yards — of a Pakistani military academy where the best of Pakistan's officers are trained." The obvious explanation is that people in the military and intelligence service were helping bin Laden avoid capture. If not, they're incompetent. Either way, we can no longer trust Pakistan as an ally.

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