Pakistan Pays U.S. Lobbyists To Deny It Helped Osama Bin Laden

WASHINGTON (Reuters/Tim Reid) - Pakistan's Washington lobbyists have launched an intense campaign on Capitol Hill to counter accusations that Islamabad was complicit in giving refuge to Osama bin Laden.

Alarmed by lawmakers' demands to cut off billions of dollars of U.S. aid after bin Laden was found living in a Pakistani safe house for six years, President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered a full-court press to quell mounting accusations that it helped the al Qaeda leader avoid capture.

Mark Siegel, a partner in the Washington lobbying firm of Locke Lord Strategies -- which is paid $75,000 a month by the Pakistani government -- told Reuters on Thursday he had spoken twice to Zardari since U.S. special forces killed bin Laden on Sunday, and "countless" times to the Pakistani ambassador in Washington.

"They are certainly concerned," Siegel said, adding that suggestions the Pakistani government knew about bin Laden's whereabouts was nothing more than speculation.

Referring to a statement by President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, that there must have been a support system for bin Laden inside Pakistan, Siegel said: "There is no proof that a support system was government-based."

There is much at stake for Pakistan as many lawmakers question how bin Laden could have lived in a large fortified compound close to a Pakistani military base for so long.

Some members of Congress are now demanding that nearly $3 billion in annual aid for Pakistan, included in Obama's 2012 budget, be blocked until the Zardari administration explains how bin Laden lived untouched just 30 miles outside Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. Pakistan has received over $20 billion in U.S. aid since the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate subcommittee that allocates foreign aid, said on Thursday he wants a complete review of U.S. aid to Pakistan.

Leahy said he was certain that some Pakistani military and intelligence officials knew that bin Laden was hiding so close to Islamabad.

"It's impossible for them not to have some idea he was there," Leahy told Vermont Public Radio.

But Siegel, referring to claims by the Afghan government that Pakistan must have known bin Laden's whereabouts, said: "Must have known doesn't mean knew."

Siegel's firm was retained by the Zardari government in 2008 and has earned nearly $2 million in fees since then, according to Justice Department records. Siegel said his firm is paid $900,000 a year by Pakistan.

Since bin Laden's death, Siegel says he has been on Capitol Hill every day to promote Pakistan's position on the bin Laden killing, talking to congressmen, senators and their aides.

(Editing by Xavier Briand)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[Rational Voice]

08:58 PM on 05/08/2011

Great ... And they're probably using the money we gave them to pay for those lobbyists ...

[kidmac32]

11:17 PM on 05/07/2011

President Asif Ali Zardari: I'm shocked, shocked to find that Osama Bin Laden was living under our noses here!
[a croupier hands Zardari a pile of money]
Croupier: Your payoff, sir.
President Asif Ali Zardari: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.


my apologies to casablanca.

[angelicone4truth]

09:15 AM on 05/07/2011

Why is congress and the political powers so blind .It reminds me of the children running around on a playground saying he said ,she said while the kids are in their early stages of their lives they are learning how to take control , manipulate and scheme. This is what our political system has become . Foreign aide to other terrorist known regions is unacceptable when our own country will not survive a forthcoming revolution if the law makers do not listen to the tax paying american people.

[ebbjib75]

08:36 AM on 05/07/2011

if this does not smack of helping that SOB I wonder what does? Paying lobiests to help them say they were not helping hide Bin Laden - - - - - this goes to show the moral of these people, the buck is the way of truth for them, grease the palm and make it all go away. This is the way the people of Asia work and lived for years and years.Not saying there are not people here in the U. S. that do it for I would be a fool then.;

[Maureen E Ritter]

07:39 PM on 05/06/2011

What is wrong with us? At the very least, CUT the aid to Pakistan and a whole bunch of other countries who hate us or better still, eliminate most of it. Then use that money to:
1- Eliminate the deficit and pay down our National Debt
2- Build a national high speed Mag-Lev train system
3- Pay for wind farms and solar power and geothermal sources and whatever else is safe and will get us weaned off of foreign oil
4- Feed, clothe and shelter the poor of our Nation

[John Paganas]

05:59 PM on 05/06/2011

Lobbyists and Special Interest need to go... Its time to end this as no one Lobby's for the average American, or the American Family... Time to end this..... Our politicians at this point have lost the faith of "We the People" and its time to change all of them as well... I am tired of Washington and its practices... Many feel like I do.... I only hope we change things, as Business as Usual is not working, there are many Senators and Congressman that need a new line of work...

[Nicole Ritz]

04:53 PM on 05/06/2011

Here's a nice lobbyist link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=qnVC8yS4N_AC&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=%22edward+j.+van+kloberg&source=bl&ots=XQDy1Ee0sF&sig=_o1fQcb04T8DCt4tp6XjjIdYgn0&hl=en&ei=-V7ETc6OBouCsQOYh-2SAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&sqi=2&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22edward%20j.%20van%20kloberg&f=false

[tacevad]

11:51 AM on 05/06/2011

just some of our taxpayer money the government gave to Pakistan coming back home.

[EBizGuru]

04:35 PM on 05/07/2011

Missing a couple links in that chain. I recall the $$$ departing - however I don't believe the return came back to the origin. Did it make it to YOUR abode? I thought not ...

[tacevad]

05:04 PM on 05/07/2011

what? you didn't get your check yet? maybe next time.

[Max Hazelton]

11:28 AM on 05/06/2011

Pakistan is spending $ we send them to pay lobbyists to lobby congress for more $. what in the world are we doing???

[krenzny]

10:57 AM on 05/06/2011

WE need to have lobbyists and special interests kicked out of Washington. This is only the stuff we know about. Think about the treasonous transactions we don't know about.

[krenzny]

10:54 AM on 05/06/2011

A lot of us have a problem with pak. receiving this money and paying lobbyists to influence our lawmakers. But the general feeling is that we cannot do anything about it....WE CAN. We have recently learned that we have a responsive and decisive President. We must take advantage of our RIGHTS as citizens.. Its time we get involved and demand a stop to this. These representatives work for us and its time we remind them of that. WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN AND YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE TODAY. Stop complaining to one another and complain to someone who can do something about it.

[krenzny]

10:39 AM on 05/06/2011

I keep saying, instead of spending time complaining to one another, we need to send out comments to our Representatives in Washington and those who represent our state! What these lobbyists are doing borders on TREASON and we cannot just stand around tweeting one another while they do it. They do still work for us-----WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN TODAY! We need to regain control of our government. And before anybody gets their panties in a bunch, I support Mr. Obama and believe that if we make OUR wishes known, he will hear the people and respond! He is, after all, anti lobbyist.

[krenzny]

10:34 AM on 05/06/2011

Write your congressmen people! We've got to regain control of our government!

[synopsis417]

10:29 AM on 05/06/2011

Pak president will not stand any chance at any level of public office. People know that he setup his wife's killing so that he could usurp the top position via the public sympathy mode. Blames it on al qaida. He used bin laden to bilk money from the US playing double game. He knew every detail of laden's presence. He wants credit for capturing Laden. Now that the golden egg laying goose is in paradise Zardari lost his paycheck from the US. Most of the money he got from the US went into his secret account. He wants to stay in power as long as he can. There will be a moment in his term where the verdict against him will be "to be hanged."
Lesson: don't pay crooks without accountability. Crooks will take the money they don't deserve and use the same to kick your behind.

[xMoonWalkerx]

11:37 AM on 05/06/2011

Their president is a powerless idiot. The real power in that country is the army. It's entirely possible that their president did not know about it but their army and intelligence agencies did,

[krenzny]

10:19 AM on 05/06/2011

Have you written to your Congressman to let them know how you feel and what YOU want yet? Here's the link people: http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=congressional+representatives+by+zip+code&aq=2&aqi=g5&aql=f&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=cc6bcc5982231d65.
It's time for us to take back our government, and stop this outrageous treason! Instead of posting here, send the post to your congressman!