The Hill News

The Obama administration decided not to inform Pakistan of its plan to hunt down Osama bin Laden over fears that the mission could be compromised, a top official said Tuesday.

CIA Director Leon Panetta said that the U.S. had serious concerns about leaks coming from the Pakistani government.

{mosads}"It was decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardize the mission. They might alert the targets,” Panetta told Time magazine in an interview. 

The administration has previously said it did not inform Pakistan of its plans, but Panetta's comments reveal the depth of skepticism held by the administration about the reliability of Pakistan's government and intelligence services.

The U.S.'s nominal alliance with Pakistan has come under scrutiny ever since U.S. forces killed bin Laden, the former head of al Qaeda, at an elaborate compound near the capital city of Islamabad.

A collection of lawmakers and politicians from both political parties have questioned how the Pakistanis did not know about bin Laden's hideout, or if they did, why they did not take action against him.

Panetta will likely face further questions about the U.S.-Pakistan relationship on Tuesday, when he heads to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers on the operations behind closed doors.

President Obama's counterterrorism adviser John Brennan previously ra! ised questions about Pakistan, when he told reporters Monday t! hat it i s "inconceivable" that bin Laden did not have a "support system" in Pakistan.

"We are pursuing all leads on this issue," he said during a White House briefing. "I think people are raising a number of questions, and understandably so."

Some lawmakers, however, believe that the U.S.'s cooperation with Pakistan on anti-terror efforts would not suffer in the long-term. 

"We recognize that this relationship has been strained," House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) said Tuesday. "But nonetheless we also recognize its strategic importance and the need for us to work together."