No role in bin Laden's stay in Pak, says Gilani

London : Insisting that Pakistan had no role in providing shelter to Osama bin Laden, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has attributed presence of the al Qaeda leader in his country to universal intelligence failure.

Mr Gilani, who is on a five-day visit to Britain, in an interview to 'The Guardian', denied that bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad was secretly known.

He said, "There is no complicity. I think it's an intelligence failure from all over the world."

"Why should we do that? We have suffered the most," he added, denying suggestions that elements within Pakistan's military may have been aware of bin Laden's hideout

According to Mr Gilani, Pakistan was "part of the solution, not part of the problem" when it came to the "global issue" of fighting terrorism.

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He alleged that the US had fuelled the problem by abandoning its ally Pakistan once the Soviets had been driven from Afghanistan.

"The vacuum was filled by militants," he said.

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Mr Gilani claimed that his country had been the biggest loser from the turmoil in neighbouring Afghanistan and from Islamist extremism at home: "Pakistan has paid a huge price. Some 35,000 people have been martyred. 5,000 police and soldiers have been killed."

In addition, Pakistan was now "catering to the needs" of 3.6 million Afghan refugees, he said.

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The daily reported that Mr Gilani was "upbeat about relations with Washington", which have been under severe strain since US-led Nato forces killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November.

Mr Gilani admitted recent relations with the Obama administration had not been "too normal" but said the CIA and ISI were still working hard together to wipe out or "achieve" high-level targets.

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He claimed that it was practically impossible to police the mountainous Afghan-Pakistan border, where thousands crossed every day.

"We don't know if they are tourists or militants," he said in the interview.

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