AP
Pakistan’s Prime Minister risked alienating Washington further by saying al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was “martyred” by the United States. Imran Khan made the controversial comment in parliament by describing the troubled history between the governments of the United States and Pakistan.
“The Americans came to Abbottabad and killed Osama bin Laden, martyred him,” said Khan.
Your choice of words does not look like an accident. Many noted that during his speech often before a budget announcement, he initially used the word “assassinated” for Bin Laden, then stopped and decided to use the word “martyr.”
A martyr, by definition, is someone killed for his religious beliefs, not for planning the deadliest terrorist attack ever on American soil. In the Muslim world, the word conveys a sense of heroism and nobility in death.
Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11 terror attacks in Washington and New York, was assassinated in 2011 when the United States Special forces stormed his hideout in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.
The United States did not inform Pakistani officials before the raid, and since then it has been a point of discussion.
Bin Laden and other high-ranking leaders of al Qaeda and the Taliban of that time are still revered by Islamist militant groups, which many consider to be a power force used by Pakistan’s powerful military, with whom Khan is closely aligned. Analysts say any measure to publicly condemn Bin Laden could damage Khan’s ties to his powerful military commanders.
In any case, Khan’s choice of words is likely to further affect the Trump administration, which has taken a hard line against Pakistan in recent years, making deep cuts to military aid and forging ever closer ties to its rival India.
He also did not sit well with some of the prime minister’s political enemies in his country, and opposition lawmaker Khwaja Mohammed Asif said Bin Laden had brought terrorism to Pakistan.
“He ruined my country, but he (Khan) calls him a martyr,” he said after Khan’s statements in parliament.
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