US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came hard on Pakistan’s government as she bluntly told them that she did not believe that Pakistan’s government did not know where Al Qaeda was based in Pakistan and that the government could not hunt them down if they wanted to get Al Qaeda in their country, reported major new sources around the world.

Talking to journalists in Lahore, on Thursday (October 29, 2009), Mrs. Clinton said that Pakistan has been Al Qaeda’s safe haven since 2002. She spoke of the accusations of involvement of Pakistan’s power Intelligence agency – the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) – in supporting the militancy going on in Afghanistan. Mrs. Clinton said that this has not been an issue of concern for the US but also for other countries.

Besides security issues, Mrs. Clinton also spoke critically of the country’s low tax rates and low internal investment in business opportunities. She said it was very unlike the US where almost everything is taxed. An anonymous Pakistani official was quoted in the news story in the Los Angeles Times, saying that Clinton’s comments were likely to make some Pakistanis very angry. The news story also called some Pakistani media as skeptical of Mrs. Clinton’s earnestness in visiting Pakistan for opening a new chapter in the US-Pak relations.