WASHINGTON – Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Chief Mike Pompeo has nowlaunched a barrage of allegations, accusing Pakistan of providing safehavens to terrorists.
Speaking to CBS news on Monday, CIA chief Mike Pompeo reiterated hisTrump’s allegations, threatening Islamabad that they would ‘protect’ theUnited States if Pakistan fails to address the issue.
“We see that Pakistan is continuing to provide safe harbor havens inside ofPakistan for terrorists who present risks to the United States of America,”Pompeo told US media.
“We are doing our best to inform the Pakistanis that that is no longergoing to be acceptable.”
The statement comes amid a period of heightened tensions between the twonations that followed a similar statement from President Donald Trump.
The US president accused Pakistan of giving nothing but lies and deceit,thinking US leaders to be fools.
“They give safe havens to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, withlittle help. No more!” Trump said in his tweet last week.
Pompeo said: “If they fix this problem, we’re happy to continue to engagewith them and be their partner. But if they don’t, we’re going to protectAmerica.
The statements by top US officials have drawn a strong reaction fromIslamabad, with the summoning of the US ambassador to its Foreign Office ina rare public rebuke.
Last week, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif slammed that the “US behaviour isneither that of an ally nor of a friend.”
“It is a friend who always betrays,” he said.