CIA chief Leon Panetta told Pakistani officials that the information US provided to Islamabad about specific locations of the Taliban and al Qaeda bomb-making factories had been compromised within days, sources told Pakistan Today on Saturday.
Panetta said the leakage had led to the militants abandoning their sites in North and South Waziristan, before the Pakistan Army could take any action there.
However, in response to Panetta’s allegations, the Pakistani authorities warned the US spymaster that such allegations by Washington would further damage its already strained ties with Islamabad. Panetta, who reached Islamabad on Friday evening on an unannounced visit, had a crucial late night meeting with army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and ISI chief Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha.
Sources said the Pakistani officials refuted the CIA chief’s claims and said it was not possible that anyone from inside the Pakistani intelligence apparatus could have passed on such vital information to the militants. “Pakistani officials told Panetta that such allegations will further harm the bilateral ties,” he said.