Washington: As Pakistan faced tough questions over Osama bin Laden, celebrated Indian-born novelist Salman Rushdie said it was time to declare it a "terrorist state", observing "the old flim-flam" of saying the country knew nothing about his whereabouts would not work anymore.
"This time the facts speak too loudly to be hushed up," he said in an essay published on the website 'The Daily Beast' after the world's most wanted terrorist and 9/11 mastermind was found down the road from Pakistan's top military academy in Abbottabad, about 120 km from Islamabad yesterday.
Rushdie said in the aftermath of the US raid on bin Laden's mansion all the "big" questions needed to be answered by Pakistan.
"The old flim-flam (Who, us? We knew nothing!) just isn't going to wash, must not be allowed to wash by countries such as the United States that have persisted in treating Pakistan as an ally even though they have long known about the Pakistani double gameits support, for example, for the Haqqani network that has killed hundreds of Americans in Afghanistan," he said.
Rushdie went on to say, "As the world braces for the terrorists response to the death of their leader, it should also demand that Pakistan give satisfactory answers to the very tough questions it must now be asked. If it does not provide those answers, perhaps the time has come to declare it a terrorist state and expel it from the comity of nations."
"This time the facts speak too loudly to be hushed up," he said in an essay published on the website 'The Daily Beast' after the world's most wanted terrorist and 9/11 mastermind was found down the road from Pakistan's top military academy in Abbottabad, about 120 km from Islamabad yesterday.
Rushdie said in the aftermath of the US raid on bin Laden's mansion all the "big" questions needed to be answered by Pakistan.
"The old flim-flam (Who, us? We knew nothing!) just isn't going to wash, must not be allowed to wash by countries such as the United States that have persisted in treating Pakistan as an ally even though they have long known about the Pakistani double gameits support, for example, for the Haqqani network that has killed hundreds of Americans in Afghanistan," he said.
Rushdie went on to say, "As the world braces for the terrorists response to the death of their leader, it should also demand that Pakistan give satisfactory answers to the very tough questions it must now be asked. If it does not provide those answers, perhaps the time has come to declare it a terrorist state and expel it from the comity of nations."
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