A defensive Pakistan Ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani vowed Sunday that Islamabad officials will be sacked following an investigation into how Osama bin Laden lived undetected for years in the country.
"Heads will roll, once the investigation has been completed," envoy Husain Haqqani told CNN, as the United States heaped pressure on Pakistan to explain how the world's most wanted man could have lived under the noses of its military before being killed in a US raid in the garrison town of Abbottabad.
"Now, if those heads are rolled on account of incompetence, we will share that information with you. And if, God forbid, somebody's complicity is discovered, there will be zero tolerance for that, as well."
He told CNN that "Pakistan wants to put to rest any misgivings the world has about our role," and noted that Pakistani officials were interrogating those detained in Pakistan after the US raid, including three bin Laden wives.
But he stopped short of saying Islamabad would give US agents direct access to the wives and other detainees, as US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon said had been requested.
"This is a moment for me to be very diplomatic. What we do, Mr Donilon will know," Haqqani said.
But he refused to say whether that meant direct US access, and pointed to severe internal pressures within his own country.
"Let's be honest, Pakistan has a complexity in its society," he said.
"There are people who have sympathy with the cause of Osama bin Laden. Those of us who do not, we are targets ourselves, so we have to deal with that complex ground reality in Pakistan. It's not easy for us."
But he also stressed that Washington had its own "selling job" to do in Pakistan to win over millions of Pakistanis furious over unmanned drone strikes and other US raids.
"We are allies and partners who need each other."
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