US senators flag Pakistan's history of harbouring terrorists, hiding bin Laden

Two Republican senators flagged histories of Qatar and Pakistan of "harbouring terrorists" against the backdrop of US Vice President J D Vance's remarks professing "love" for Islamabad.

"It should be clear to everybody by now who our friends really are. Qatar and Pakistan have long histories of harbouring terrorists, and right now they seem far more invested in propping up Iran's decades-long terror campaign than achieving a meaningful peace," Senator Rick Scott said in a post on X on Monday.

The Florida senator's remarks came against the backdrop of Vance's "we love Pakistan" remark in Switzerland, where he, along with leaders from Pakistan and Qatar, was negotiating technical details of a peace deal with Iran.

"There is still room for a workable agreement that benefits everyone. HOWEVER, what everybody needs to get through their heads here is that there is ZERO chance Iran comes out of this able to build a nuclear weapon," Scott said.

Senator Tim Sheehy from Montana, in an interview to Fox News, also flagged the role of Pakistan in sheltering Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"Pakistan, let's not forget, Pakistan hid bin Laden for a decade. They funded Ayatollah through ISI insurances," Sheehy said.

He said if Pakistan and Qatar were at the negotiating table, the US should also have the UAE, Israel and Saudi Arabia join the talks.

Sheehy said the UAE, Israel and Saudi Arabia were the real allies of the US in the Middle East.

The Montana senator also said that Qatar has been laundering money for terrorist organisations for decades.

"The Pakistanis through the ISI funded insurgencies against us and hid bin Laden. So to assume they're going to be objective middlemen here, I don't think is accurate," Sheehy said.

"I think we need to make sure that we stand with the UAE, and we stand with Israel unequivocally, because they will be our vanguard in the region no matter what happens," Sheehy, a former US Navy SEAL, said.

On a lighter vein, Vance on Sunday said Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir was among two of his "favourite" persons.

"I will say that since Field Marshal Munir welcomed us with the Prime Minister in Islamabad, I have joked that I have two very, very important people in my life -- an Indian and a Pakistani. The Indian is my wife, and the Pakistani is Field Marshal Munir," Vance said.

He also said that in the last three months, he talked to Munir more than "anybody else".