Stung by the embarrassment of the discovery and death of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad on Monday, Pakistan’s powerful military establishment is under pressure to make changes in its relationship with key allies, and in its fight against terrorism.
After three days of sedulous silence on the matter, the military and intelligence leadership on Thursday shared its perspective on the Abbottabad debacle with a select group of senior Pakistani journalists no foreign news media were invited. The rare closed-door briefing was prompted by a desire to challenge an emerging global narrative that incriminated Pakistan’s security establishment in bin-Laden’s ability to elude capture, according to some of those present.