CRISISBOOM

Yusuf Raza Gilani will seek to restore some dignity in an address to the nation after the humiliation caused when American forces killed Osama bin Laden at a compound close to Pakistan’s main military academy in Abbottabad last week without alerting Pakistan.

A senior government source close to the prime minister said while Mr Gilani will take an aggressive stand to shore up the government’s position.

The source said: “The Prime Minister will say that the United States should not have bypassed Pakistan. We have made a huge contribution in fighting terrorism. We’ve arrested close to 100 al-Qaeda people, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

“We’ll take appropriate action if any further violation takes place. We will defend our air space by any means we have.”

He will say that Washington’s decision to launch the raid without consulting Islamabad had plunged military and political relations between the frosty allies to a new low.

Sources in Mr Gilani’s office said the country’s air defences on its Western border will now be upgraded to confront any future US raids from bases in Afghanistan.

The country’s Air Chief will establish a committee of inquiry into the air warning failures which allowed American helicopters to fly undetected into the heart of the country’s military establishment in Abbottabad.

Mr Gilani is also expected to announce his own inquiry and to consult opposition leaders about the future of Pakistan’s relationship with the United States.

The prime minister is under intense pressure from opponents, including his own former foreign minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi who has called on him and President Zardari to resign over the issue.

Mr Gilani’s warning will raise the threat of military confrontation between the two after new information discovered at bin Laden’s compound was said to disclose the whereabouts of bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri inside Pakistan, potentially leading to another raid.

President Obama’s spokesman last week said he continued to reserve America’s right to strike at terrorist targets in Pakistan.

The by US Navy Seals had taken place just weeks after Pakistan Army chief General Kiyani had met his US counterpart and agreed to increase military and intelligence co-operation, according to Pakistani government sources. The relationship had already deteriorated after CIA operative Raymond Davis shot dead two motorcycle gunmen in Lahore in January.

“The Army is very much hurt. There was an understanding to continue our co-operation in the war on terrorism and then in the following weeks they did this. It shows how much they trust us. The Americans think they can do whatever they want, but the Pakistan people are full of hate for them,” the government source said.

The CIA chief Leon Panetta last week said the US had decided not to inform Pakistan of the imminent raid because it feared its plans would be leaked and thwarted.

In a move that will heighten American anxiety over Pakistan’s reaction, local media named the CIA’s Islamabad station chief, raising suspicions that intelligence officers had leaked it in revenge for the bin Laden operation.

Sources in Pakistan said the name was incorrect, however.