Pakistan on Tuesday prepared for a backlash over Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s killing in Abbotabad on Monday as the Army, Inter-Services Intelligence and other security agencies and the police were put on high alert, with the Taliban threatening revenge attacks.
An embarrassed President Asif Ali Zardari was, meanwhile, forced to acknowledge Tuesday for the first time that Pakistani forces were left out of the United States operation to kill Osama bin Laden, but could do little to dispel questions on how the Al Qaeda leader could live in comfort near Islamabad without the knowledge of the Pakistani authorities.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, meanwhile, left on a three-day trip to France on Tuesday.