US ‘can interview’ bin Laden’s widows

Despite damaged relations between the two countries following the unannounced raid by US Navy SEALs on Pakistani soil, the official maintained that America expected to have access to bin Laden’s three widows soon.

The White House has said it would be very interested in interviewing the women, who could provide information about bin Laden’s life in hiding. The women have been in Pakistani custody since the SEALs helicoptered away from the compound with bin Laden’s body.

The official spoke anonymously to discuss private discussions between the two countries. There was no immediate confirmation from Pakistani officials in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, an Orthodox Jewish newspaper in New York apologised for digitally deleting US secretary of state Hillary Clinton from a photo of President Barack Obama and his staff monitoring the raid that killed bin Laden on May 2.

The Brooklyn weekly Di Tzeitung, which says it does not publish images of women, printed the doctored photo on Friday. It issued a statement saying its photo editor had not read the “fine print” accompanying the White House photo that forbade any changes.

The newspaper said it has sent its “regrets and apologies” to the White House and the Department of State. A second woman, counter-terrorism director Audrey Tomason, was also deleted.

Di Tzeitung said it had a “long-standing editorial policy” of not publishing women’s images. It said its readers “believe that women should be appreciated for who they are and what they do, not for what they look like, and the Jewish laws of modesty are an expression of respect for women, not the opposite”.