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Pakistan Ambassador Compares Bin Laden And Bulger Searches

BOSTON (CBS) – Pakistan's ambassador to the United States made reference to fugitive Boston mobster Whitey Bulger in an interview Monday, while defending his country's role in finding Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden was found hiding in a compound about a half-mile from Pakistan's equivalent to The United States Military Academy at West Point, fueling criticism that Pakistan may have been protecting him.

Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, told Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic Monday that Pakistan helped the U.S. find bin Laden.

He also threw in a Bulger reference.

"If Whitey Bulger can live undetected by American police for so long, why can't Osama Bin Laden live undetected by Pakistani authorities?" Haqqani asked.

Bulger, who went into hiding in 1994, and bin Laden joined  the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List in 1999.

"President Obama has answered the question about Pakistan's role. It wouldn't have been possible to get Bin Laden without Pakistan's help. People are piling on this one, but the fact is, it is very plausible for someone to live undetected for long periods of time," Haqqani told Goldberg.

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