Islamabad, May 2 (IANS) Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s killing was a major setback to terror organisations around the world, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said Monday.
Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbotabad city, 122 km from here, by US forces.
A Foreign Office statement said the most wanted terrorist mastermind was killed in an operation ‘conducted by the US forces in accordance with declared US policy that Osama bin Laden will be eliminated in a direct action by the US forces, wherever found in the world’.
It called the killing ‘a major setback to terrorist organisations around the world’.
Associated Press of Pakistan quoted the statement as saying that US President Barack Obama telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari on the successful US operation.
It said that Osama bin Ladin’s death illustrates the resolve of the international community, including Pakistan, to fight and eliminate terrorism.
The statement said Al Qaeda had declared war on Pakistan.
‘We have had extremely effective intelligence sharing arrangements with several intelligence agencies, including that of the US. We will continue to support international efforts against terrorism.
‘It is Pakistan’s stated policy that it will not allow its soil to be used in terrorist attacks against any country. Pakistan’s political leadership, parliament, state institutions and the whole nation are fully united in their resolve to eliminate terrorism,’ the statement added.
