France raps Pakistan over terror links

France was refusing to sell heavy weaponry to Pakistan until it receives a satisfactory explanation over its role in allegedly sheltering terrorists including al Qadea chief Osama bin Laden, the French Defence Minister said on Friday.

The minister, at the end of his two-day visit to New Delhi, also alluded that it was concerned over the reports of Pakistani spy service Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) behind terror strikes in India like the 2008 attack on Mumbai.

?This point was raised during the bilateral meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Paris recently. I can tell you that France is only selling Pakistan equipment that can be used for electronic interception to fight terror,? said Minister Gerard Longuet.

?In fact, heavy military equipment is not being sold. We have discouraged any request from Pakistan for heavy equipment,? he added.

The Minister said that the fact that the world?s most sought after terrorist bin Laden was found and killed barely 60 km from the capital Islamabad after purportedly living there for five years, had raised several questions.

?After the death of Osama bin Laden, Pakistan should be given an opportunity to explain its position vis-a-vis terrorism,? Longuet said.

Indicating that the ongoing review over selling heavy weaponry to Pakistan could stretch for a while, he said, ?We are waiting for those clarifications. It is not a matter of a few days, a few months or a few years.?

Responsible for the 2001 attacks on America, bin Laden was killed in a covert unilateral operation by U.S. commandos in Pakistan?s garrison town of Abbottabad, a serious blow to the tense relations between the two nations.