Washington: Pakistan has agreed to grant US access to the three widows of Osama bin Laden, who were detained soon after the killing of the al-Qaeda chief in his Abbottabad hideout last week, media reports said today.
The US investigating agencies would be given "direct access" to the three widows of bin Laden, meaning the US government agents will be able to interview them, and not just submit questions, CBS news reported.
With this, Islamabad has met one of the major demands of the Obama Administration.
While there was no official confirmation of this news from the White House, the CNN said according to a senior Pakistani intelligence source, Pakistan will allow the US to question or take into custody the apparent wives of bin Laden only if their "country of origin has been asked for permission."
"We will continue those conversations. We believe that it is very important to maintain the cooperative relationship with Pakistan precisely because it's in our national security interest to do so," he said.
On Sunday, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Pakistani Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as part of the continued dialogue.
Both the Pentagon and the State Department confirmed on Monday that neither Defense Secretary Robert gates nor Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have made any telephone calls to the Pakistani leadership after the last week's raid that killed bin Laden.
The US investigating agencies would be given "direct access" to the three widows of bin Laden, meaning the US government agents will be able to interview them, and not just submit questions, CBS news reported.
With this, Islamabad has met one of the major demands of the Obama Administration.
While there was no official confirmation of this news from the White House, the CNN said according to a senior Pakistani intelligence source, Pakistan will allow the US to question or take into custody the apparent wives of bin Laden only if their "country of origin has been asked for permission."
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"We will continue those conversations. We believe that it is very important to maintain the cooperative relationship with Pakistan precisely because it's in our national security interest to do so," he said.
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On Sunday, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Pakistani Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as part of the continued dialogue.
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Both the Pentagon and the State Department confirmed on Monday that neither Defense Secretary Robert gates nor Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have made any telephone calls to the Pakistani leadership after the last week's raid that killed bin Laden.
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