Pakistan's Musharraf Has Been Accused Of Knowing Osama Bin Laden's Hideout

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Pakistan’s Musharraf Has Been Accused of Knowing Osama bin Laden’s Hideout

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/02/13/pakistan-s-musharraf-has-been-accused-of-knowing-osama-bin-laden-s-hideout.html

Feb 14, 2012 4:45 AM EST

General Ziauddin Khawaja, an ex-security chief for Pakistan, accuses former president Pervez Musharraf of knowing where bin Laden was hiding and saying nothing.

Ever since the Navy SEALS found Osama bin Laden hiding in Abbottabad, Pakistan, less than a mile from the country’s national military academy, the question haunting American relations with Pakistan has been, who knew he was there? How did the most wanted man in human history find a hideout in one of Pakistan’s most exclusive military cantonment cities and live there for five years without the Pakistani spy service finding him? Or did they know all along?

Now there is an explosive new charge. The former head of the Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) says former president Pervez Musharraf knew bin Laden was in Abbottabad. General Ziauddin Khawaja, also known as Ziauddin Butt, was head of ISI from 1997 to 1999. A four star general, he fought in the 1965 and 1971 wars with India. He was the first head of the army’s Strategic Plans Division which controls the country’s nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made him director general of ISI in 1997 and promoted him to chief of army staff on October 12, 1999 when he fired Musharraf from the job. Musharraf refused to go and launched a coup that overthrew Sharif. Ziauddin spent the next two years in solitary confinement, was discharged from the army, had his property confiscated and his retirement benefits curtailed. So he has a motive to speak harshly about Musharraf.

So bearing that in mind, here is what the former spy chief claims. Ziauddin says that the safehouse in Abbottabad was made to order for bin Laden by another Pakistani intelligence officer, Brigadier General Ijaz Shah, who was the ISI bureau head in Lahore, Pakistan when Musharraf staged his coup. Musharraf later made him head of the intelligence bureau, the ISI’s rival intelligence in Pakistan’s spy versus spy wars. Ziauddin says Ijaz Shah was responsible for setting up bin Laden in Abbottabad, ensuring his safety and keeping him hidden from the outside. And Ziauddin says Musharraf knew all about it.

Ijaz Shah is a colorful character. He has been closely linked to Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British born Kashmiri terrorist who was imprisoned in India in 1994 for kidnapping three British citizens and an American. Saeed was freed when Pakistani terrorists hijacked an Indian airliner to Kandahar, Afghanistan in December 2000, a plot masterminded by bin Laden and assisted by the ISI and the Afghan Taliban. Saeed was part of the plot two years later to kidnap Daniel Pearl and turned himself in to Brigadier Shah. Musharraf nominated Shah to be ambassador to Australia, but Canberra said no thanks. So he got the intelligence bureau job.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto accused Shah of being behind the attempt to murder her when she returned from exile in late 2007. She was of course killed in another attempt later that year. Shah fled to Australia for a time while the situation cooled off.

Without a doubt, Ziauddin has an axe to grind. But he is also well tied in to the Pakistani intelligence world. When he was DG/ISI, he set up a special commando team to find and capture bin Laden with U.S. help. Elite commandoes from Special Services Group, Pakistan’s SEALs, were put on the hunt. Musharraf disbanded the group after he took power. Ziauddin’s successor at the ISI, General Mahmud Ahmad, refused American requests to go after bin Laden right up to 9/11. Then Musharraf had to fire him because even after 9/11, he did not want to do anything to bring bin Laden to justice.

We don’t know who was helping hide bin Laden but we need to track them down. If Mush, as many call him in Pakistan, knew, then he should be questioned by the authorities the next time he sets foot in America. The explosive story about him, which was first reported in the must read Militant Leadership Monitor, is more than an academic issue. If we can find who hid bin Laden, we will probably know who is hiding his successor, Ayman Zawahiri, and the rest of the al Qaeda gang.

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'Musharraf knew Osama was in Abbottabad'

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Pakistan/Musharraf-knew-Osama-was-in-Abbottabad/Article1-811705.aspx

Press Trust Of India
Islamabad, February 15, 2012

Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf knew that Osama bin Laden was hiding in the garrison town of Abbottabad and the Pakistani intelligence itself had made the safe house that sheltered him, a former ISI chief has alleged, according to a media report.

Former CIA official Bruce Riedel quoted ex-ISI chief Gen (retired) Ziauddin Khwaja alias Ziauddin Butt, as saying that Musharraf "knew bin Laden was in Abbottabad".

In an article for The Daily Beast website, Riedel further quoted Butt as saying that bin Laden's safe house in Abbottabad "was made to order" by Brig Ijaz Shah, a former head of the Intelligence Bureau.

"Ziauddin says Ijaz Shah was responsible for setting up bin Laden in Abbottabad, ensuring his safety and keeping him hidden from the outside. And Ziauddin says Musharraf knew all about it," Riedel wrote in the article.

However, Butt told the Geo News channel today that he had been misquoted in the article.

He did not give details.

US Special Forces killed the al Qaeda chief in a pre-dawn raid on a compound in Abbottabad, located a short distance from the elite Pakistan Military Academy, in May last year.

Since then, American officials have questioned whether elements in Pakistan's security establishment were aware of bin Laden's presence in the country.

Bin Laden reportedly lived in the walled compound in Abbottabad for five years.

Riedel referred to US suspicions in his article, writing: "Ever since the Navy SEALs found Osama bin Laden hiding in Abbottabad, Pakistan, less than a mile from the country's national military academy, the question haunting American relations with Pakistan has been: who knew he was there?"

Butt was made head of the ISI by former premier Nawaz Sharif and served in the post during 1997-99.

He was the first head of the army's Strategic Plans Division, which controls the nuclear arsenal.

Sharif promoted Butt to the post of army chief in October 1999 when he tried to fire Musharraf.

Musharraf then launched a coup that deposed Sharif's government.

Butt spent two years in solitary confinement, was discharged from the army and had his property confiscated.

Riedel noted that he thus had "a motive to speak harshly about Musharraf".

Brig (retired) Ijaz Shah, a former ISI bureau head in Lahore, served as chief of the Intelligence Bureau when former premier Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan from self-exile in 2007.

Bhutto linked him to an attempt to assassinate her but he denied the charges.

Shah has been closely linked to Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-born Kashmiri terrorist who was imprisoned in India in 1994 for kidnapping three Britons and an American.

Saeed was freed when Pakistani terrorists hijacked an Indian airliner to Kandahar in December 2000.

Saeed was part of the plot to kidnap journalist Daniel Pearl and turned himself in to Shah.

Riedel further wrote: "We don't know who was helping hide bin Laden but we need to track them down. If (Musharraf) knew, then he should be questioned by the authorities the next time he sets foot in America".

He added that if American authorities can find who hid bin Laden, "we will probably know who is hiding his successor, Ayman Zawahiri, and the rest of the Al Qaeda gang".

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Musharraf 'knew Bin Laden was living in Abbottabad', claims ex- ISI chief

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/02/16/268272-Musharraf-knew-Bin-Laden-was-living-in-Abbottabad-claims-ex-ISI-chief.html

Islamabad, Thu, 16 Feb 2012 ANI

Islamabad, Feb 16(ANI): Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf was aware of former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, which was built by Pakistani intelligence agencies, a former Inter-Services Intelligence chief has claimed.

An American news website, The Daily Beast quoted Ziauddin Khwaja, (also known as Ziauddin Butt), as saying that Musharraf "knew Bin Laden was in Abbottabad".

Musharraf had earlier categorically denied having any knowledge of Bin Laden's location.

Khwaja allegedly said that Bin Laden's safe house in Abbottabad "was made to order" by a former intelligence head Brigadier Ijaz Shah.

"Ziauddin says Ijaz Shah was responsible for setting up Bin Laden in Abbottabad, ensuring his safety and keeping him hidden from the outside. And Ziauddin says Musharraf knew all about it," the Express Tribune quoted the article, as saying.

Butt has, however, claimed that he had been misquoted in the article, but refused to divulge details of what he had said which could have been misconstrued.

Butt was appointed to head the ISI by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and served at the post from 1997 to 1999.

The article authored by Central Intelligence Agency official Bruce Riedel also notes that Butt had "a motive to speak harshly about Musharraf".

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Musharraf OBL hideout?

http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=141918

(Gold9472: I can't find any confirmation of what's being said in this article with regards to the denials and the lawsuit, however, when B. Raman said that Ijaz Shah was the "Handling Officer" for Osama Bin Laden from the Pakistani ISI, so far as I know, Ijaz Shah didn't file a lawsuit against him.)

Masooma Imran

An ex-security chief in Pakistan has accused former President Pervez Musharraf of knowing bin Laden’s hideout and saying nothing. In an article for American news website The Daily Beast, former Central Intelligence Agency official Bruce Riedel quoted former Director-General of the ISI Lt. Gen. (retd) Ziauddin Khwaja as saying that Musharraf “knew Bin Laden was in Abbottabad”. This report is another piece of that targets Musharraf without any proof and is only aimed at causing mischief. Not to mention the source of the article is not trustworthy as previous reports have suggested the existing personal enmity the former ISI chief has with Musharraf. The writer also seems to be particularly against Musharraf as he wrote an article last year calling for the former president to be accountable for the OBL saga.

Since this article was published two things have happened: Ziauddin Khwaja has categorically denied that he made the allegations and said that he was misquoted in the article. Secondly, former Intelligence Bureau (IB) DG Ijaz Shah is filing a defamation suit against the ex ISI chief for alleging that he provided the OBL hideout. Both these rebuttals render the article by Bruce Riedel bare and meaningless. The issue is not newsworthy anymore. Bruce Reidel also says that the former President should be questioned the next time he visits the USA and fails to realize that the former President is highly respected in America and there is absolutely no need to do so.

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Stratfor: Osama bin Laden 'was in routine contact with Pakistan's spy agency'
Osama bin Laden was in routine contact with several senior figures from Pakistan's military intelligence agency while in hiding in the country, according to a large cache of secret intelligence files.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/9109457/Stratfor-Osama-bin-Laden-was-in-routine-contact-with-Pakistans-spy-agency.html

By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
7:35PM GMT 27 Feb 2012

The disclosure was contained in e-mails from the private US security firm, Stratfor, which were published by WikiLeaks website on Monday after being obtained by the Anonymous hacking group.

Stratfor provides analysis of world affairs to major corporations, military officials and government agencies and was once likened by an American business magazine to a "shadow CIA".

According to one of the e-mails, the firm was shown the information papers collected from bin Laden's Abbotabad compound after the US special forces attack last May that resulted in his death.

The e-mail, from a Stratfor analyst, suggested that up to 12 officials in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency knew of the al-Qaeda leader's safe house.

The internal email did not name the Pakistani officials involved but said the US could use the information as a bargaining chip in post raid negotiations with Islamabad.

American officials have always believed it was impossible for the ISI not to have known that Bin Laden was sheltering in a garrison town so close to Islamabad. Pakistan has repeatedly dismissed the charge.

"Mid to senior level ISI and Pak Mil with one retired Pak Mil General that had knowledge of the OBL arrangements and safehouse," the email said of the officers involved. "I get a very clear sense we (US intel) know names and ranks."

WikiLeaks claimed to have 5 million Stratfor emails that it would published in collaboration with media outlets. However only 200 were released in the first lot.

Other e-mails included the suggestion that Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, may have less than a year to live after his cancer spread to the colon and bone marrow.

Russian doctors who had been brought in to "clean up the mess" resulting from Cuban treatments for the Venezuelan leader had given a grim prognosis for his recovery, the e-mails said.

Other revelations were statements that Israel had last year carried out a successful covert attack on Iran's secret nuclear facilities.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange accused Stratfor of involvement in wide range of legally or morally questionable research activities for private corporations.

"On the surface it presents as if it's a media organisation providing a private subscription intelligence newsletter," the activist, who is awaiting extradition to Sweden on rape charges said in London. "But underneath it is running paid informants networks."

Mr Assange also promised 5,000 emails would reveal private details of individuals who had worked or given information to the organisation.

Stratfor rejected claims that there was anything improper in the way it handled information gathered.

"Stratfor has worked to build good sources in many countries around the world, as any publisher of global geopolitical analysis would do," the company said. "We have done so in a straightforward manner and we are committed to meeting the highest standards of professional conduct.

"Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submitting to questioning about them," the statement said.

The Texas-based subscription-based publisher providing political, economic and military analysis to help customers reduce risk.

The emails were orginally hacked last year by the network Anonymous.

We promised you those mails and now they'll finally be delivered. Five million (that's 5,000,000) emails at your pleasure," said the Anonymous account.

"There's a treasure trove of nasty details in those emails. We think there's something for everyone."

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Pakistan denies Wiki claim on Osama

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-denies-Wiki-claim-on-Osama/articleshow/12092319.cms

Omer Farooq Khan, TNN | Mar 1, 2012, 06.58AM IST

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday rubbished Wiki-Leaks disclosure that some of its intelligence and army officers were in touch al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and knew his whereabouts before his killing in Abbottabad last year. "These kinds of charges are not new. It is rubbish and tantamount to kite flying - far from the truth," said Pakistan military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas.

The claim was made in emails allegedly from USbased think tank Stratfor, which were published by the whistle blowing website along with its five million emails on Monday. Many have argued that Osama could not have lived close to a military academy in Abbottabad without the knowledge of Pakistan's spy agencies. One email said Stratfor was shown information from material taken from bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad and alleged that 12 officials may have known that he had a safe house there.

Activist group Anonymous had hacked Stratfor's computers in December.Stratfor founder and CEO George Friedman called WikiLeaks publication of the emails "a deplorable, unfortunate and illegal breach of privacy'' . "Like all private emails, they were written casually, with no expectation that anyone other than the sender and recipient would ever see them."

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Bin Laden 'protector' dined at Government House
The Pakistani spy was a dinner guest at Government House, and nearly Pakistan's High Commissioner to Australia. He was also allegedly harbouring Osama bin Laden.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/bin-laden-protector-dined-at-government-house-20120709-21qk0.html

BEN DOHERTY
July 9, 2012 - 1:05PM

WHEN Brigadier Ijaz Shah sat down to dinner at Government House in Canberra in June 2005, he was just one of Pakistani's President Pervez Musharraf's considerable entourage.

His military attire likely attracted little attention. His boss often wore army greens, and those present at the state dinner to mark the military dictator's visit included the Governor General and former commander of Australia's SAS, Major General Michael Jeffery, and the then Chief of the Australian Defence Force, General Peter Cosgrove.

"Pakistan is a key ally for Australia in the war against terror, and has played a pivotal role in efforts to dismantle global terrorist networks such as al-Qaeda," Prime Minister John Howard said before the Pakistani leader's arrival. "President Musharraf has played a courageous and resolute role in combating terrorism in the region."
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Six months earlier in the then little-known garrison city of Abbottabad, near the Pakistani capital, construction had begun on an imposing, three-storey walled compound in the suburb of Bilal Town. It was being built to harbour the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. It was built - allegations have now emerged - at the direction of the man sitting down to dinner at Yarralumla: Brigadier Ijaz Shah.

The man making the claim is the former head of Pakistan's main spy agency, the directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI, General Ziauddin Butt.

He alleges that Brigadier Shah harboured the world's most wanted criminal for years, at the same time that other arms of the Pakistani military and the US were hunting him.

"The most important and all-powerful person in [the] Musharraf regime was Brigadier Ijaz Shah, then Intelligence Bureau chief," General Butt said in a television interview.

"I fully believe that Ijaz Shah had kept this man [Osama bin Laden, in Abbottabad] with the full knowledge of Pervez Musharraf."

In a separate interview, General Butt said the Abbottabad compound was built to bin Laden's specifications on Brigadier Shah's orders. But Brigadier Shah said the allegations were groundless.

"Not only do I reject it, but any sensible man in the world will reject this allegation.

"I retired on March 18, 2008, the Abbottabad incident took place in May 2011, more than three years later. How is it possible that I am involved in this? The general knows that this is not true."

Brigadier Shah said in more than a year since bin Laden's death, no evidence had been produced that he was harbouring him or knew of his whereabouts.

“The whole world has been looking to see who knew about this, but they have not found any proof.”

But Islamist terrorism expert and author Arif Jamal believes the allegations are credible and that retirement will have made little difference to Brigadier Shah's influence.

"Men like Ijaz Shah don't retire in Pakistan, they keep playing different roles for the military," Mr Jamal said.

"Ijaz Shah was very powerful when Musharraf was in power, and it makes sense that he knew (of bin Laden's whereabouts). But I don't buy the theory that only the Intelligence Bureau was taking care of Osama bin Laden. Other people in the military were also involved. I think a dozen or so very senior people knew."

Mr Jamal said General Musharraf, still head of the army, almost certainly knew bin Laden was being protected.

"I think Musharraf had to have known. The Pakistan army is a very well-ordered army, there is a chain of command, I don't think it would have been possible without his knowledge."

Despite his having seized power in a coup, Australia was keen to court Musharraf when he visited in 2005. Prime Minister Howard signed a counter-terrorism agreement with him promising greater sharing of intelligence.

While in Australia, General Musharraf said he believed bin Laden was living somewhere in the tribal belt of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

"It's very easy for a person to hide," he told the Press Club. "I know that he is alive . . . because of our information and interrogation of various al-Qaeda operatives that we have apprehended."

General Musharraf did not return numerous phonecalls or emails from this journalist this week but has said previously he had no knowledge of bin Laden hiding in Pakistan. Somewhat enigmatically however, he has not ruled out others in his regime knowing.

"They say Bin Laden was there for five years, that means two years under my watch. Well, one cannot be sure of others, but one can be sure of oneself. And I am 100 per cent sure of myself that I did not know he was there."

The Intelligence Bureau and the directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence are two separate and rival arms of Pakistan's massive clandestine security apparatus.

The ISI performs the military's espionage, while the IB reports directly to the country's chief executive — in Brigadier Shah's time, President Musharraf. Brigadier Shah had a decorated, but controversial career in Pakistan's military. In an organisation notorious for walking a fine line between fighting terrorism and fortifying it, Brigadier Shah walked a finer line than most.

He was the military's "handler" of Kashmiri terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh. In 2002, Sheikh kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and handed the US-Israeli citizen over to other militants who beheaded him.

Days later, Sheikh handed himself into Brigadier Shah, who held him for a week in a safehouse before finally handing him over to authorities, allegedly to give Pearl's murderers a chance to escape.

Before her own assassination, former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto alleged Brigadier Shah was conspiring with terrorists to assassinate her, naming him in a letter as someone who should be investigated if she died.

Brigadier Shah was in charge of Bhutto's security detail, which failed to protect her, on the night she was killed in 2007.

Brigadier's links to Australia
Brigadier Shah, now in his mid-60s, is a man with strong links with Australia. His children studied in Melbourne and Sydney, and, in the weeks after Bhutto's death he reportedly left Pakistan for Australia for several months.

In 2004, President Musharraf nominated him to be High Commissioner to Australia. He was rejected by Canberra, it is understood, out of concern over his links to terrorists.

However, Brigadier Shah was a prominent member of Musharraf's entourage on a state visit to Australia in June 2005. He sat down to dinner at Government House on the night of June 14.

At that time, construction of the compound that was to house bin Laden, his wives and acolytes had been underway for at least six months.

Building of the compound, including of the conspicuous six-metre-high walls which surrounded it, began in late 2004. Bin Laden may have already moved in, one of his wives who survived the attack which killed him said they had been living there since 2005.

The building has since been demolished.

Brigadier Shah said it was impossible that knowledge of bin Laden's whereabouts could be limited to a handful of people.

"There is no way that one man, or even one institution, can keep this man hidden from all the entire world, this man that the entire world is looking for."

Last month, Brigadier Shah was interviewed in camera by a Pakistani government inquiry charged with investigating how bin Laden was able to hide in Pakistan for so long.

“People should wait for that committee's report, it is run by three very eminent people and has gathered all of the information about the Abbottabad operation. But I knew nothing about that, I was never involved in anything like this (harbouring bin Laden), absolutely not. This is propaganda people are saying for their own interest.”

In the treacherous world of Pakistani military politics, General Butt is a known enemy of General Musharraf, who sacked him as chief of army staff after only hours in the job and jailed him for two years.

Brigadier Shah said General Butt was part of a concerted campaign to discredit the exiled former leader and his allies. "The General is settling old scores," he said, "he is trying to damage people by alleging everything about everyone. This is the way in Pakistan."

But the global consensus is that bin Laden was protected by senior officials in the Pakistani military or government.

The White House's counter-terrorism chief John Brennan said it was "inconceivable that bin Laden did not have a support system in the country", while Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said he believed somebody in authority in Pakistan knew of his whereabouts.

And an email reportedly leaked from security affairs think tank Stratfor by WikiLeaks and sent on May 13, 2011 — just days after the raid on the Abbottabad compound which killed bin Laden — said at least 12 people knew.

"Mid to senior level ISI and Pak Mil[itary] with one retired Pak Mil General that had knowledge of the OBL arrangements and safe house", Stratfor's vice-president of intelligence, Fred Burton, wrote to colleagues.

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'Pak officer harboured Osama with full knowledge of Musharraf'

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-officer-harboured-osama-with-full-knowledge-of-musharraf/972073/

Melbourne, Mon Jul 09 2012, 12:34 hrs

A Pakistani Brigadier harboured Osama bin Laden for years with the full knowledge of Pervez

Musharraf at a time when the US was hunting for the elusive al-Qaeda chief, former ISI head Gen Ziauddin Butt has claimed.

Brigadier Ijaz Shah, a long-term close associate of former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf, was the “most important and all-powerful person” in his regime, General Butt said in a television interview.

“I fully believe that Ijaz Shah had kept this man (Osama bin Laden, in Abbottabad) with the full knowledge of Pervez Musharraf,” General Butt said.

Shah was the Intelligence Bureau chief during Musharraf's rule and is believed to be the ISI handling officer of the British-born terrorist Omar Sheikh, convicted for the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Butt, the former chief of directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI, alleged that Shah harboured the world's

most wanted criminal for years, at the same time that other arms of the Pakistani military and the US were hunting him.

He said the Abbottabad compound where bin Laden was killed by US special forces in a covert raid on May 2 last year was built on Brigadier Shah's orders.

But Brigadier Shah said the allegations were groundless.

“Not only do I reject it, but any sensible man in the world will reject this allegation,” he said.

Shah said in more than a year since bin Laden's death, no evidence had been produced that he was harbouring him or knew of his whereabouts. “The whole world has been looking to see who knew about this, but they have not found any proof.”

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Pervez Musharraf on Osama bin Laden living in Pakistan: "I am 500 percent sure myself...that I didn't know it"

http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/25/pervez-musharraf-on-osama-bin-laden-living-in-pakistan-i-am-500-percent-sure-myself-that-i-didnt-know-it/

7/26/2012

As the world prepares for the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympic Games, this evening Piers Morgan hosts his program from his home country, broadcasting in London two days ahead of Friday's Opening ceremony.

Joining the British television presenter in his native land is Pervez Musharraf, the man who served as the tenth President of Pakistan for seven years, the final two overlapping with the period during which Osama bin Laden was believed to be in his country.

Questioning Musharraf's knowledge of this, Morgan states:

"Part of the problem, I think, certainly for Americans, is a question of trust. When they discovered that Osama bin Laden had been hiding in Pakistan, they're not going to believe that nobody in any position of authority in the Pakistan government or intelligence services didn't know."

For his part, the retired four-star general admits it's difficult to comprehend, but stands by his claim of naiveté:

"I totally agree with you, that it is not believable. But I personally am convinced that it is a case of negligence and not a case of complicity," says Musharraf. "I believe that. I strongly believe that that is the truth."

Convincing the "Piers Morgan Tonight" host however, proves more challenging:

"It defies belief that somebody as notorious as Osama bin Laden could be living in that compound, so close to military installations, but nobody knew," presses Morgan. "You never heard a single...rumor or whisper?"

"Is it possible that the intelligence agencies were hiding from me?" responds the former Pakistani President. "No, that is not possible because I was the army chief also. And the ISI, the intelligence agencies, are manned, mainly officered by military, army, navy, air force, mainly army. Most of them have associations with me. So if somebody was hiding on top, somebody below, in the second, third tiers, would have come and told me. So this is not possible at all."

Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. to see if Musharraf goes back on his initial characterization of Barack Obama, during which he classified the President of the United Stats as "arrogant."

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Ties between allies: ‘No reason why Pakistan would hide OBL’s presence’

http://tribune.com.pk/story/414074/ties-between-allies-no-reason-why-pakistan-would-hide-obls-presence/

By Huma Imtiaz
Published: July 28, 2012

If senior Pakistani officials knew about former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director general Michael Hayden says he cannot find a logical reason as to why they would not share such information with the US.

Speaking to The Express Tribune on the sidelines of the Aspen Security Forum, Hayden, the ex-CIA spymaster from 2006-2009, said that this was merely his own opinion and not based on any specific evidence, as he was not in office at the time. “If someone has a contrary position, they are going to have to show me some facts,” Hayden said.

While declining to comment specifically on the US drone programme, Hayden said: “The president has made it very clear that we have worked very hard to take our enemies off the battlefield. I think we have been very successful in making the organisation that attacked us on 9/11 less capable of attacking the US again.”

However, he said that while using drones was a successful tactic, which he supports, it needed to be part of a broader strategic approach that addresses the US’ relationship with Pakistan. “Frankly, it saddens me to say that the way we view the problem and the way the Pakistani government views the problem today isn’t nearly as close as it used to be. So, as we go forward and carry out such tactical practices, I think we also have to keep in mind the long-term strategic relationship, and we need to tend to its costs and benefits to the best of our abilities both in Washington and in Islamabad.”

[B]ISI chief’s visit to the US
General Hayden added that he had seen press reports that Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence chief General Zaheerul Islam would be visiting the US soon to meet his CIA counterpart General David Petraeus.

“I think the important thing is that they develop a common understanding of the threat, a common understanding of the situation. I mentioned before that we have a government whose policy seems to be divergent, that may be based on a different view of what is going on.” Hayden said that, “I’ve found that candid, honest exchanges of information between intelligence services very often gives policymakers more common ground on which to build more complimentary, more consistent, and, frankly, more successful, policies.”

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ISI accused of manipulating Osama probe

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/NH14Df01.html

By Malik Ayub Sumbal
8/13/2012

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's top spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has been accused of harassing witnesses appearing at the country's investigation into the United States military raid that last year killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Witnesses at the Abbottabad Commission have come forward to say that the ISI would has been picking them up while traveling to and leaving the probe, often "briefing" them on what to say and grilling them afterwards on the proceedings.

Abbottabad Commission Head Justice Javed Iqbal has expressed anger at the alleged interference, describing it as meddling and establishing a committee of military officials to investigate the apparent harassment.

The matter first came to light when a witness from the neighborhood of Bin Laden's complex in Abbottabad was late for giving testimony. When the court demanded an explanation, he said that on his way to Islamabad, some ISI personnel stopped him and told him what to tell the commission.

Several other witnesses have now also alleged they were harassed by the ISI, both before and after recording their statements. The witnesses say while they wished to remain impartial in their statements, they also feared ISI reprisals.

Established on May 30, 2011 - just 28 days after the US raid - the Abbottabad Commission has quizzed hundreds of people on the events leading up to the operation, including civil and military officials. It is now compiling its final report

However, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, had voiced serious misgivings about the commission's mandate, saying it was just formed to please the government and will produce no important findings.

In Pakistan's recent history, there have been numerous such commissions formed to investigate different incidents, but they rarely produce conclusive results.

A commission was formed to investigate the murder in March 2011 of Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief Syed Saleem Shahzad, but it has so far produced no results, with no findings being made public.

A similar inquiry was formed in August 2011 to probe allegations that law enforcement authorities were involved in enforced disappearances in Balochistan. While the Supreme Court decreed in July that the disappearances should immediately stop and action taken against the culprits, there has been no evidence of this being implemented.

Critics say the Abbottabad Commission is equally unlikely to make major progress on the Bin Laden case.

A broader question raised by the ISI's alleged grilling of witnesses, is why the intelligence agency was seemingly so concerned with influencing its outcome.

There have been numerous reports since 9/11 claiming that the ISI helped hide Bin Laden, who was for over a decade the world's most wanted man. This was why the US special forces raid was launched without consulting Islamabad.

The complex where Bin Laden was found was located in close proximity to the Pakistan Military Academy, suggesting he was benefiting from close contacts with members of the army intelligence.

The ISI's international image has plummeted in recent months over the Bin Laden affair and its alleged links with the Afghan Taliban. By "briefing" witnesses in the Abbottabad Commission, the ISI likely sought to avoid the investigation implicating it in way - however an unlikely outcome that may be.

Malik Ayub Sumbal is an investigative journalist based in Islamabad, Pakistan. He has worked for more than nine years for a number of national and international newspapers, magazines, journals, wire services and television channels. He can be contacted at ayubsumbal@gmail.com

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'Pakistan was well aware of Osama’s whereabouts'

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/pakistan-was-well-aware-of-osamas-whereabouts_797471.html

Last Updated: Monday, September 03, 2012, 16:10

`Pakistan was well aware of Osama’s whereabouts` Islamabad: A recently-published book on Osama bin Laden has claimed that a top US official, who had briefed President Barack Obama, was certain that Pakistan was well aware of the al Qaeda chief’s whereabouts.

The book, by Peter Bergen, titled 'Manhunt: From 9/11 to Abbottabad - The Ten Year Search for Osama Bin Laden', reveals secret deliberations of the top US intelligence official with Obama. However, when approached by the media, not a single Pakistani official was ready comment on the book's claims.

Bergen claims in the book that the US military leadership had hinted at unilateral action against Osama or Ayman al Zawahiri, the current leader of al Qaeda, to Pakistan's Army chief, reports The Express Tribune.

"If bin Laden was dwelling in the midst of a well-policed city, how could the Pakistanis not know?," asked Robert Cardillo, a veteran intelligence official who briefed President Obama three days a week about national security developments around the world, as saying.

"Furthermore, if his compound was just a kilometre away from the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul, it was 'nuts' that he hadn't relocated in six years, the official said - inviting murmurs that it was being guarded by the Pakistan military," he said.

US Admiral Mike Mullen repeatedly told his counterpart General Kayani, "If we know we can find Number One or Number Two, we are going to get them. Period. And we are going to get them unilaterally. Period."

There seemed to be certain downsides of involving Pakistan. Intelligence officials claimed that doing so might lead to mishandling of crucial information. The Abbottabad operation was hence carried out in complete secrecy, with not more than a dozen military men privy to its developments, the paper said.

According to the book, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that preserving Pakistan-US amity was not a priority when it came to eliminating bin Laden.

"And I remember at one point, one of the briefers said the raid will be considered a gross violation of the Pakistanis' national honour, and I exploded at the moment and said, what about our national honour. And what about going after a man who killed three thousand innocent people?" she said.