No apology to Pak for Osama operation, says US

Rejecting Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's criticism of the unilateral action that killed Osama bin Laden, the United States on Monday asserted that it would not apologise to the Pakistan government for the incident.

At the same time, the Obama administration maintained that it expects the Pakistan government to continue to cooperate with the US in the 'war against terror'.

"We do not apologise for the action," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told mediapersons at his daily news conference.

Carney was asked about the allegations by Gilani that the United States has violated Pakistan's sovereignty last week when its helicopters and special operation forces carried out a covert operation some 60 kilometers of Islamabad that kill Osama bin Laden.

"This relationship is too important to walk away from," Carney said when asked about the strain in the relationship between the two countries.

"The relationship is important and complicated. It has been cooperative in the past and we hope that it will continue to do so," he said.

Carney said that Obama administration is in consultations with the government of Pakistan at various levels on a host of issues including access to the three wives of Osama bin Laden, detained by Pakistani authorities from the Abbottabad hideout, and materials seized from there.

Acknowledging that there are differences between the two countries on a host of issues, the White House spokesman hoped that Pakistan would carry out a complete investigation as to how bin Laden was successful in staying in Abbottabad for so long.

The United States hopes that they will carry on the investigation as this is in the interest of both countries.

"The United States and Pakistan have an important, complicated relationship, as we've said. The cooperation that we've had with Pakistan has been important for years now in our fight against terrorism and terrorists. And more terrorists have been killed on Pakistani soil because of that cooperation than anywhere else in the world, and that's important to note," Carney said.

"Which is not to say we don't have our differences, because we do, we obviously do, and those differences are frequently aired. But the fact of the matter is, that relationship is important, the cooperation continues to be important for the United States in order to pursue Al Qaeda and other terrorists as the war continues after the death of Osama bin Laden," Carney said.

"We are in consultations with the Pakistani government at many levels about the matter you raised, Osama bin Laden's wives and some of the other materials that may have been collected by the Pakistanis after the commando team left, and we'll continue those conversations."

"We believe that it is very important to maintain a cooperative relationship with Pakistan, precisely because it's in our national security interest to do so," he added.

When asked if the Obama administration has confidence in the leadership of Pakistan, Carney said the White House thinks it's important that the Pakistanis do a full investigation.

"We are, obviously, doing a full investigation and examining some of the substantial material that our operators collected in bin Laden's compound for evidence of the support network that must have existed to allow Osama bin Laden to continue to live in Abbottabad for so long," he said.