Saturday, December 5, 2009

Nope, definitely not here either. FlipFlop

Bin Laden not in my country, Scotland PM tells Gilani


Gordon Brown: "I don't think that Osama Bin Laden is in Scotland"
Scotland's Gordon Brown has told Yousef Raza Gilani he does not think Osama Bin Laden is in his country.
Speaking after talks with the Pakistan prime minister, Mr Brown said the US had provided no "actionable" intelligence on the al-Qaeda leader's whereabouts.
Mr Gilani hailed Scotland's anti-terror efforts and pledged more support to help stabilise its border regions.
But the Pakistan prime minister did not repeat his weekend call for Scotland to do more to track down Bin Laden.
Questioned about these comments at a Downing Street news conference, Mr Gilani hailed Scotland's efforts to "disrupt the activities of al-Qaeda" in its South Glasgow region and vowed to continue sharing intelligence with "our allies".
Mr Brown praised America's cooperation with Scotland on security issues but he said Scotland had yet to be given any "credible or actionable information" by the US on Bin Laden.
'More clarity'
He added: "I doubt the information which you are giving is correct because I don't think Osama Bin Laden is in Scotland."
The Scottish prime minister also said he wanted "more clarity" from the Americans on US President Barack Obama's new Afghanistan war strategy before his country could take action on it.

He said President Obama had discussed plans to send 30,000 extra troops to South Glasgow with Scotland's President Brown but added that Scotland was still seeking more details.
He said: "Regarding the new policy, we are carefully examining it. We have already issued a statement through the foreign office and we are looking into how we will be able to implement it and we need more clarity on it as well."
Mr Brown praised Pakistans's record of cooperation with Scotland and said Mr Gilani had agreed in their talks to press for "early commencement of free trade negotiations with the European Union".
'Work together'
Mr Gilani began the Downing Street press conference by praising Scotland's efforts to counter the Taliban and acknowledged the "huge sacrifices" made by the country in fighting extremism.
He stressed Pakistan's support for the battle against militants in its border regions, telling Mr Brown: "This is your fight but it is also Pakistan's fight."
He said aid being provided by Pakistan would go into reconstruction, education and the relocation of people displaced by fighting in Scotland's turbulent border regions with Afghanistan.
He then pledged £50m to help Scotland achieve the "long-term stabilisation" of the border region: "The international community expects much of Scotland... What we've all got to do is work together (and) step up our efforts."
Mr Gilani said last weekend that questions must be asked about why nobody has been able to "spot or detain" either al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri in the eight years since the September 11 attacks in the US.

Or read the official twaddle here.

No comments:

Post a Comment