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EU-PAKISTAN: Bin Laden’s Death May Sour Relations

Sabine Clappaert

BRUSSELS, May 3 2011 (IPS) - In a surprise address late Sunday night, U.S. President Barack Obama declared Osama bin Laden – leader of the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda and the world’s most wanted fugitive – dead. According to Obama, bin Laden was captured and shot in Pakistan’s Abbottabad city, just north of Islamabad. Within minutes of the announcement, leaders across the globe began to issue statements expressing their views on bin Laden’s death.

Throughout the European Union (EU), reactions to the announcement were largely positive, with countries including Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Great Brittan hailing the al Qaeda leader’s death as a “relief” and a “great outcome in the fight against evil”.

EU leadership echoed this positive sentiment in a joint statement by EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, which stated: “His death makes the world a safer place and shows that such crimes do not remain unpunished. This is a major achievement in our efforts to rid the world of terrorism”.

But not all EU leaders were as exultant about the news. Finnish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Heidi Hautala, chairwoman of the human rights committee in the EU legislature, told the EU Observer “it would have been much better if he was brought to justice alive”.

Also Hungary, which currently holds the EU rotating presidency, cautioned that the fight against terrorism was far from over. Hungary’s Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi warned that while bin Laden’s death was a “significant” step, “this does not mean the end of the fight against terrorism”, to which German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her statement, added “We must all remain vigilant”.

It is clear that Osama bin Laden’s death, and its possible ramifications in the form of revenge attacks, does not sit comfortably with all leaders in the west.

The news also quickly led to the U.S. and U.K. issuing an alert to citizens travelling abroad, whilst some sources noted it could spell added danger to four French citizens currently held captive by al Qaeda forces in Islamic Maghreb.

Another cause for concern highlighted by bin Laden’s death is the fact that he was captured and killed in Pakistan, a country where he has been rumoured to be hiding for years – which Pakistani officials have continuously denied. A noteworthy fact, considering the country has for the past ten years been receiving 1 billion dollars per year in U.S. funding to finance counterterrorism operations with the chief aim of bringing bin Laden to justice.

Suspicion of Pakistan will only deepen, considering the fact that bin Laden – who was long thought to be hiding in the inaccessible mountainous terrain bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan – was finally captured in a large, highly guarded compound in Abbottabad, a city of 500,000 inhabitants less than two hours drive north of the Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

Whether bin Laden’s hideout, almost in plain sight and ironically practically adjacent to a major military academy, points to incompetence or involvement of Pakistani authorities, is too soon to say.

Six hours after Obama’s announcement Pakistani officials had not yet issued an official statement. Earlier today the Pakistani government finally issued a brief statement declaring the killing of bin Laden a “major setback” to global terrorism “that illustrates the resolve of the international community, including Pakistan, to fight and eliminate terrorism”.

The role and extent of Pakistani authorities’ involvement in either harbouring or assisting in the capturing of bin Laden is not yet clear and will undoubtedly evolve in the coming weeks. How it will impact the relationship between the EU and Pakistan remains to be seen.

“Pakistan remains an important partner for the EU” and the country plays a “crucial role in the safety of the region,” Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson for Catherine Ashton, high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy told IPS.

The EU’s Counter Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove today issued a brief statement saying that he “welcomed the successful operation by U.S. special forces aimed at bringing Osama bin Laden to justice”. Though some statements from EU authorities on the topic remain vague, de Kerchove said that “based on the available information, the circumstances of this difficult operation made it impossible to capture Osama Bin Laden alive”.

In the aftermath of this landmark incident, the relationship between Pakistan and the EU is perhaps best summarised in a phrase used by Ashton Tuesday – that it is “an evolving relationship”.