Offisielt sier USA at operasjonen skjedde i samarbeid med Pakistan, men en tjenestemann sier anonymt at pakistanske myndigheter ikke ble informert.

Det lyder plausibelt. Bin Laden gjemte seg ikke i det utilgjengelige fjellområdet mot grensen til Afghanistan, men i et herskapshus ikke langt fra hovedstaden Islamabad.

President Obama noted that the operation that had killed Mr. bin Laden was carried out with the cooperation of Pakistani officials, but a senior American official said Pakistani officials had not been informed of the operation in advance. The fact that Mr. bin Laden was killed deep inside Pakistan was bound once again to raise questions about just how much Pakistan is willing to work with the United States, since Pakistani officials denied for years that Mr. bin Laden was in their country. More surprising still was the fact that he was killed not far from the Pakistani capital, rather than in the remote tribal areas where he had long been rumored to have taken refuge.