France said on Friday it had put on hold the sale of heavy military equipment to Pakistan and was waiting for an explanation about the ISI’s role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks and in providing a safe haven for al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, killed in a United States raid in Abbottabad on May 2. France also expressed the hope that Pakistan’s dialogue with the US on terrorism would shed some light on questions that had cropped up in the wake of bin Laden’s killing on its soil, reported IANS. French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet told reporters that bin Laden’s killing in the garrison town close to Islamabad had raised a lot of questions that needed answers.
Though Longuet did not name the ISI, he alluded to the alleged role of Pakistan’s premier spy agency in sheltering Osama. Longuet said France would not sell heavy defence hardware to Pakistan until such time that the country’s clarifications were satisfactory. “This point was raised during the bilateral meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in Paris recently. I can tell you that France is only selling Pakistan equipment that can be used for electronic interception to fight terror,” said the French defence minister, who wound up his two-day visit to India on Friday. “In fact, heavy military equipment is not being sold. We have discouraged any request from Pakistan for heavy equipment,” he added.
Asked about the recent revelations about the ISI’s alleged involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Longuet said: “Terror cannot be a weapon of anybody or any government. After the death of Osama bin Laden, Pakistan should be given an opportunity to explain its position vis-à-vis terrorism.” Noting that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Islamabad on Friday, Longuet said France was keenly watching discussions between the US and Pakistan on terrorism and was awaiting the outcome of the talks. Lamenting the fact that the US was not openly sharing all the information on terror that it received from Pakistan with its coalition partners, including France, he said at least now, the information would be shared.
