Kerry to ask Pakistan tough questions

U.S. Senator John Kerry will press Pakistani leaders for answers on Osama bin Laden in talks this week but he will be keen to ensure Pakistani anger over the raid does not subvert vital security cooperation.

U.S. special forces found and killed the al Qaeda leader in the garrison town of Abbottabad, 50 km north of Islamabad on May 2.

His discovery living comfortably in a high-walled compound virtually under the noses of military authorities has revived suspicion that Pakistani security agencies knew where he was all along.

Pakistan welcomed bin Laden's killing as a big step against militancy.

But the secret U.S. raid to get him has been condemned as a violation of sovereignty which embarrassed and outraged the military. Military officials say it has caused a breakdown in trust which has cast a shadow over security cooperation.

Pakistan might be tricky ally but it is vital to U.S. efforts to combat Islamist militants and to efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, where U.S. forces depend on Pakistani supply lines for water, food, fuel and other essentials.

The U.S. administration has not accused Pakistan of complicity in hiding bin Laden but has said he must have had some sort of support network, which it wants to uncover.

U.S. legislators have questioned whether Pakistan is serious about fighting militants and some have called for a suspension of U.S. aid.

Asked if the United States would conduct a similar raid inside Pakistan to kill Mullah Omar, the reclusive leader of the Afghan Taliban, Kerry said Washington would consider all options.

Kerry, speaking a day after two suicide bombers killed 80 people at a Pakistani paramilitary academy, said Pakistan was a victim of extremism and faced its own tough decisions.

(Reuters, 15 May 2011)

vocabulary

press for	demand; push for; ask for; urge for
raid	sudden surprise attack
subvert	weaken; disrupt; destabilize
garrison	troops stationed in a town; military base
compound	an enclosed group of buildings; an enclosed area where a particular group of people live
under the noses of	right before them; directly in front of
all along	all the time
militancy	combativeness; violence
outraged	shocked and angered
breakdown	collapse; cessation; interruption
cast a shadow over	spoilt
tricky	difficult to deal with; crafty; deceitful
combat	stop; fight against
complicity	involvement; partnership in wrongdoing; collusion
network	system; set-up
legislators	lawmakers; people who have the power to make laws
reclusive	living alone and avoiding other people; hermit
paramilitary	organized on military lines; helping the official army of a country

Model sentences and idiomatic expressions with “combat”:

• He was killed in combat.

• There was fierce combat between the two sides.

• No one knew how many troops had died in combat.

• The soldiers were engaged in hand-to-hand combat (=fighting in which you are close enough to touch your opponent).

• The film explores the combat between good and evil.

• Pilots re-enacted the aerial combats of yesteryear.

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the following words:

1. raid 2. under his nose 3. complicity 4. breakdown 5. press for

1. They continued to . . . . . a change in the law.

2. They launched a bombing . . . . . on enemy bases.

3. I put the bill right . . . . . so that he couldn’t miss it.

4. The . . . . . of the negotiations was not unexpected.

5. She is suspected of . . . . . in the fraud.

Answer key: 1. press for 2. raid 3. under his nose 4. breakdown 5. complicity