IS the current Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in Pakistan? “We believe” he is, said Hillary Clinton. The certitude in her voice was alarming, though it would have been better had she not gone public with her views. True, the Abbottabad raid has weakened the credibility of the Pakistani Foreign Office’s rejoinder. Since the days of Gen Musharraf, Islamabad has insisted that it knew nothing about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. If, therefore, Islamabad implies that Ayman al-Zawahiri is not in Pakistan or dismisses Ms Clinton’s assertion as conjecture, it should not be surprised if the world is sceptical. On May 2 last year, American Navy SEALs humiliated Pakistan’s intelligence establishment the way nothing else has. Moreover, given the capture of senior Al Qaeda operatives — with the help of Pakistani intelligence — allegations of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s presence on Pakistani soil cannot be dismissed altogether.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American secretary of state chose the wrong time and place to level familiar charges against Pakistan. Speaking in Kolkata, Ms Clinton renewed America’s determination to go after Al Qaeda leaders, some of whom were “on the run”, and indicated that it was in Pakistan’s interest to apprehend terrorist leaders inside the country. Must the secretary of state have chosen the soil of a country, with which Pakistan has had a long history of rivalry, to say the things she did? Equally unfortunate was the timing of her disparaging remarks, for they came at a time when negotiations between the US and Pakistan to reset ties are at a crucial stage. In fact, on Monday a State Department spokesman said that matters were not at a “standstill” between the two countries and the negotiators were trying to lay down “the groundwork for new cooperation”. Ms Clinton’s ill-advised words go against this spirit. As Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said, if the US has any information that the Al Qaeda chief is hiding in Pakistan, it should share it with Islamabad instead of making speculative statements. Indeed, Ms Clinton should put her faith in quiet diplomacy rather than make sensitive statements through the media.