Bhutto says she might allow US strike on bin Laden

US: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Monday that she might allow a U.S. military strike inside Pakistan to eliminate al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden if she were the country’s leader.

“I would hope that I would be able to take Osama bin Laden myself without depending on the Americans. But if I couldn’t do it, of course we are fighting this war together and (I) would seek their cooperation in eliminating him,” Bhutto said in an interview on BBC World News America.

Bush administration officials fear that unilateral U.S. action against the al Qaeda safe haven could destabilize Pakistan and jeopardize the government of Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in Washington’s struggle against militants.

Asked by the BBC whether she would agree to let the Americans take action against bin Laden in Pakistan, Bhutto said her decision would depend on the strength of the evidence.

“I think one really needs to see the information. So I would really, really need to see the evidence,” she said, according to a transcript of the BBC interview.

“But if there was evidence, my first reference would be to go in myself and if ... there was a difficulty on that I’d like to cooperate with the Americans.”

Washington, Tuesday, Reuters