Pakistan is committed to probing how Osama bin Laden was able to hide in the country before al-Qaeda chief was killed in a American action last month and has already rounded up more than 30 people as part of the investigation, Pakistan's ambassador in Washington Husain Haqqani said on Sunday.
Haqqani revealed that Pakistani intelligence has detained or questioned several people to identify members of eliminated al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's support network.
"Even if some people were arrested for collaborating with a foreign intelligence service, that would not be different from the United States arresting Jonathan Pollard for spying on behalf of America's friend Israel. Allies share intelligence. They should not be found conducting espionage on one another," he wrote in special article, put on the CNN website.
The envoy argued that the bin Laden episode is a moment of introspection for both Pakistan and the United States.
On the Pakistan side, a high level commission - along the lines of the 9/11 Commission and Warren Commission - will determine how bin laden lived in Pakistan without detection and how we can improve our surveillance to root out other terrorists in our country. It will also investigate how a foreign force, albeit an ally, could penetrate our airspace and conduct a military operation without our knowledge.
"On the U.S. side, there needs to be an examination as to why the US did not feel the need to inform Pakistani leadership of the operation, being sensitive to the negative signals unilateral military action send to the people of Pakistan about our alliance."
In an appearance on ABC channel's This Week program on Sunday morning, the ambassador pointed out that it is unfair to say that bin Laden was allowed to be in Pakistan and made it clear that the al-Qaeda chief "just happened to be there."
Haqqani told the channel that Pakistan and the United States have been working together in the fight against al-Qaeda militants and sharing intelligence. He said it was Pakistan's first tip that led US to ultimately to the target. He said Pakistan has been America's ally in the anti-terror campaign and rejected the impression that it
had not helpful to the U.S. efforts along the Afghan border.
In the context of Pak-US relations, Haqqani noted in the writing for CNN that public recrimination and cynicism is not the way forward.
"It is now time for all of us to take a deep breath and objectively evaluate the realities of the relationship between America and Pakistan in a way that furthers our shared goals and objectives."
Commenting on mutual views, particularly on the Capitol Hill and among the Pakistani people - the ambassador wrote the US Congress complains of lack of co-operation while the standing of the United States in Pakistan, which has not been high for decades, has sunk to what may be its lowest level in history.
Most Pakistanis mistrust the motives of the United States, believing America is somehow manipulating, exploiting, patronising and treating them with contempt. "The fear that the United States will desert Pakistan once again, as it did at the end of the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan in 1989, is widespread."
"America asks whether Pakistan is an ally and can be trusted. And of course, the same questions are being asked about the United States in Pakistan."
Haqqani reminded critics of Pakistan's role that "there is an elected democratic government steering the bilateral relationship on our side after a long period of dictatorships supported by Washington. A democratic Pakistan will always be aligned with the values and interests of the civilised world, and clearly with the free world's leader, the United States of America, even when there are differences on some issues from time to time as among all friends."
"We appreciate America's help, but the notion that America has "given" Pakistan $20 billion since 9/11 needs to be seen in context. About $12 billion of this figure is Coalition Support Funds, reimbursements for expenses incurred by Pakistan in counterterrorism operations. They covered the cost of the fuel, ordnance, training and execution of counterterrorist operations. "The blood, sweat, effort, grit and guts are those of a Pakistan that bears the brunt of the battle against terrorism, a battle clearly in the national security interests of the United States."
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