Pakistan knew bin Laden’s whereabouts, claims former defence minister

In those clips, it was concluded that Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership knew about Laden’s presence inside Pakistan.

CNN-IBN on Tuesday claimed to have exposed what it called “Pakistan’s link with Osama” by repeatedly showing short clips of an interview its anchor Zakka Jacob conducted of Pakistani ex-defence minister Ahmed Mukhtar.

Earlier, CNN-IBN had quoted the former minister as saying, “Former Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, then Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Joint Chief of Staff all knew that Osama was in Pakistan”.

Now, former defence minister of Pakistan has revealed that the Pakistani Army and the ISI had prior knowledge of Osama living on their soil.

Bin Laden was killed after his compound in the environs of Islamabad was raided by U.S. Navy SEALs.

Mukhtar’s admissions come on the heels of investigative reporter Seymour Hersh’s claim that a Pakistani agent had leaked to the US Osama’s Abbottabad hideout address. Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook.

It’s an open secret that elements within Pakistan’s military and political establishment must have been aware of bin Laden’s location and perhaps even helped him to safe haven in the years after the United States launched its invasion of Afghanistan and global war against al-Qaeda. The way he (Obama) hid himself, we could not identify him’. “Because I am from them and they are from me”, he had said on October 27, 2011. Now the then Pakistan Defence Minister has blown the lid out of this denial as to why this narrative was not countered.

Question: So when this story happened and it’s been a little over four years since that earth shattering event happened, why is it that this impression has gone to the rest of the world that it’s only the Americans who knew about it, this operation was in complete stealth and the Pakistani authorities were completely in the dark? They attempt committing suicide. “So, the Pakistanis have been all alongside merely hoping that Osama, if discovered, would simply kill himself, like most terrorists do”, he added. A long time member of the Pakistan People’s Party, Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar had the ear of his boss, President Asif Ali Zardari.