Pakistan Reacts Angrily To Tone Of U.S. Questions

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is pressing Pakistani authorities for answers about how Osama bin Laden could have lived close to a major military base near Pakistan's capital without the government knowing, two senior U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The al Qaeda leader was living in a walled compound in Abbottabad, about 50 km (31 miles) north of Islamabad, when he was gunned down by American commandos in a pre-dawn raid Monday. The killing has left Pakistani officials facing sharp questions from Washington -- and in some cases, from their own people -- and exacerbated an already rocky relationship between the two nations.A senior Pakistani intelligence official reacted angrily Wednesday to comments by CIA Director Leon Panetta, who told U.S. lawmakers in a closed-door session Tuesday that Pakistani officials were either "involved or incompetent" in bin Laden's case -- and, "Neither is a good place to be."The official, who did not want to be named, said his country had been generously sharing intelligence with its American counterparts."Of all people," the Pakistani official said, Panetta "knows how much we have been doing.""What worse statement can come than that we heard from Panetta?" the official said. "I am afraid this statement is totally regrettable."But the discovery of bin Laden, who was living in a three-story, walled home a short distance from a prestigious Pakistani military academy, has fueled calls by American lawmakers to re-examine the U.S.-Pakistani relationship."How does he hide in plain sight like this, in a military town so close to Islamabad?" asked Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Florida, a member of the House Armed Services Committee.Rooney told CNN that Pakistan has helped the United States in its battle against al Qaeda and its Taliban allies in neighboring Afghanistan."We use them for resources, logistics and assets," he said. But he added, "We have to be very careful. If we do find out they were harboring bin Laden, that will be a bad deal for Pakistan."Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, said his government will