Washington, May 22: US President Barack Obama has indicated he would order an Abbottabad type operation that killed Osama Bin Laden early this month if another prominent militant leader was found in Pakistan.
Speaking to the BBC ahead of a European visit, Obama said the US was mindful of sovereignty issue but said the US could not allow "active plans to come to fruition without us taking some action".
Asked what he would do if one of al-Qaeda's top leaders, or the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was tracked down to a location in Pakistan or another sovereign territory, he said the US would take unilateral action if required."Our job is to secure the United States," Obama told BBC's Andrew Marr during a wide-ranging interview.
"We are very respectful of the sovereignty of Pakistan. But we cannot allow someone who is actively planning to kill our people or our allies' people.
"We can't allow those kind of active plans to come to fruition without us taking some action."
On Afghanistan, Mr Obama said that while the conflict could not be solved militarily, raising troop levels had put the Taliban "back on its heels" in a way that could facilitate the brokering of a political reconciliation.
"Ultimately it means talking to the Taliban," he said, adding that the "Taliban would have to cut all ties to al-Qaeda, renounce violence and they would have to respect the Afghan constitution".
President Obama is due to leave for Europe later on Sunday. He will first visit the Irish Republic, then the UK, France, and Poland.
He is expected to discuss a range of issues, including the upheavals in the Middle east and North Africa, the war in Afghanistan, and the downturn that has forced European governments to adopt austerity measures.
