ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's foreign ministry has summoned Paul Jones, America's top diplomat in Islamabad, to protest President Donald Trump's allegation that Islamabad harbored al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden despite getting billions of dollars in American aid.
Tuesday's ministry statement said "such baseless rhetoric ... was totally unacceptable."
It claimed cooperation from Pakistan's intelligence service provided initial evidence that helped Washington trace bin Laden.
In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Trump said "everybody in Pakistan" knew bin Laden was there and no one said anything despite the U.S. providing $1.3 billion a year in aid.
Washington and Kabul have long accused Islamabad of harboring militants — a charge it denies. U.S. commandos killed bin Laden in a secret 2011 raid in Pakistan. Islamabad denies it knew his whereabouts prior to the raid.
