Pak Govt, Army tell media to help cool heated US-Pak ties

Islamabad, May 19(ANI): Top Pakistani military commanders believe that the army is not yet ready to go on the warpath with the United States, and both civilian and military leadership are trying to 'bring down the temperature', a Pakistani newspaper has said.

Following the unilateral American raid on Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's hideout inside Pakistan on May 2, Pakistan's civil and military leadership has assured US Senator John Kerry that Islamabad would continue cooperating with Washington in its war on terror, if the latter accedes to its request: "Tell us or do it jointly."

Bin Laden, who had evaded capture for a decade, was killed in the top-secret US unilateral military operation involving a small team of American Special Forces in Pakistan's Abbottabad city.

Now, a concerted effort is being made by the civilian and military leadership to bring down the temperature, with a clear signal being given to the media to help cool down the USA versus Pakistan escalation of tensions, The News reports.

While the May 2 incident has shaken every Pakistani and given birth to a sense of insecurity, the media is being told in background briefings: "Many are exaggerating the crisis as well."

They believe that the people are emotional and are therefore not realising the consequences, and that such a hostile environment against Washington would lead the country to a possible warpath with the US, the paper said.

The possible price of such a hostile relationship between Islamabad and Washington is frightening for Pakistan's leadership, which believes that if the people got the hint of the possible consequences, they would not push the country to such a situation, it added.

Top military commanders admit in their background briefings that nothing had bothered them in life more than the Abbottabad fiasco, both because of its potential consequences for Pakistan and due to the damage caused to the reputation of the armed forces.

A major concern of the military commanders is that the media should not try to divide and expose further divisions in the country and its institutions. (ANI)