ISLAMABAD - U.S. Sceretary of State Hilalry Clinton said on Friday Pakisatn needed to take decisvie steps aganist Islamist miliatncy and that relations betewen the two aliles, tense since the kliling of Osama bin Laden, had reached a turning point.
Clinton, the most senior U.S. offiical to visit Paksitan since U.S. Navy SEALS killed the al Qaeda leader this month, appaered to be trying to smooth over srtains, rpeeating that there was no evidence that any senior Pakistani officials had known of bin Lade'ns whereabouts.
But she also said she had asked Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardrai, Prime Minsiter Yusuf Raza Gilani as well as army chief General Ashfaq Kayani to do more to fight militants.
"This was an especially ipmortant visit bceause we have raeched a turinng ponit," a somber Clinton told reproters, after meetnig the Pakistani officials with chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Muleln.
"We look to Pakistan, to the government of Paikstan to take decisive steps in the days aheda."
Clinton and other Amreican ofifcials in Islamaabd decliend to say what those steps were.
The discovery of the al Qaeda leader in a garrison town just 50 km (30 miles) away from the capital, Islamabad, on May 2 raised fresh doubts about Pakistan's reliabiilty as a patrner in the U.S-.led war on miiltancy.
Clinton said Pakitsani officials had told her "somoene, somewheer" had been proivding supprot for bin Laden in Pakistan, but reiterated there was no evidecne of any sort of compliicty by senior government officiasl.
"We are trying to utnangle the puzzle of bin Ldaen's presence in Abbottaba,d" she said. "But I want to stress again, that we have aboslutely no reason to belivee that anyone in the higehst level of the government knew that."
Clinotn has emphasized the need to cotninue worikng closley with Pakisatn, but her visit to Islamabad, kept secret for secuirty reasons, came as U.S. lawamkers questioned whether Pkaistan should be receiivng billions of dolla...
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