Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s recent refusal to call Osama bin Laden a terrorist in an interview with an Afghan media outlet is perplexing and defies logic and sends a wrong message to a global audience, leading Pakistani newspaper Dawn said in an editorial. The newspaper noted that there are times "to be diplomatic and parry sticky questions", but said Kasuri’s ‘non-committal comments” didn’t appear to be one of those instances.

Asked by Tolo News if he disagreed with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s reference to Osama bin Laden as a "martyr" in the National Assembly - during a discussion last year on the US operation in Abbottabad that had killed the Al Qaeda chief - Qureshi stated that the prime minister’s remarks had been taken out of context.

“Well, again.Out of context. He (the PM) was quoted out of context. And, a particular section of the media pairs it up,” he said.

On being asked if he would disagree, the foreign minister paused for a while and then said: “I will let it pass.”

Dawn said Qureshi could have used the opportunity to clearly state that Pakistan considers the late Al Qaeda mastermind a terrorist. “However, his non-committal comments sent the wrong message to a global audience”.

Asserting that Pakistan’s top leadership needs to be absolutely clear when it comes to describing fighters like bin Laden, the editorial said during the heady days of the Afghan ‘jihad’ (Islamic Holy War), bin Laden and other ‘Afghan Arabs’ like him may have been in the good books of the US, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan due to their usefulness against the Soviets.

“But in the post-9/11 era, bin Laden’s activities fell within the purview of terrorism. At one time, Al Qaeda was considered public enemy number one for governments around the globe, with the terrorist outfit staging bloody attacks across the world, and targeting civilians without discrimination,” it said.

The editorial cautioned that thous after Osama bin Laden’s death, Al Qaeda’s destructive prowess might have waned, other, “even more bloodthirsty militants took its place, as Al Qaeda became the prototype for militants worldwide” and termed the self-styled Islamic State group, that emerged from the deserts of Iraq, as the new avatar of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

“Also, bin Laden was an ideological hero to many militants in Pakistan, who had no qualms about taking on the state and spilling the blood of the innocent. Few would disagree that bin Laden was the most influential religious militant of the current era, inspiring terrorist groups across the world with his ideology and tactics.

“Therefore, there should be no ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’ and the message our government should be sending to the world is that Osama bin Laden was very much a terrorist,” it added.

(SAM)