Pakistan's Army today admitted its own "shortcomings" played a role in Osama bin Laden's ability to live in the country, apparently for many years.
"The acknowledgement came after army chief of staff Gen. Ashfaq Kayani convened a meeting of corps commanders," The DAWN media group reports.
NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Islamabad that Kayani also ordered an investigation into the circumstances of the American assault that ended with bin Laden's death on Monday and the intelligence gathering leading up to it.
But Julie also reports that Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told a news conference today that his country's intelligence agency had provided the CIA with the phone number of the Bin Laden confidante who unknowingly later led the Americans to the al-Qaida's leaders hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Bashir was the first senior Pakistani official to answer a chorus of questions about Pakistan's avowed ignorance of bin Laden's presence on its soil. He warned of "catastrophic consequences" if the United States were to repeat its unilateral action to track down terror suspects inside Pakistan.
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