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

[GR!FF!N]

Pakistan's leaders knew about Osama bin Laden's presence in the country before he was killed by US Navy SEALs four years ago, their former defence minister has said.

Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar told CNN-IBN that Pakistan's top military and civilian leaders were aware bin Laden was living in Abbottabad.

This included then-President Asif Ali Zardari, army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the joint chiefs of staff and people in the intelligence agency.


"The people who were part and parcel of the whole action like the President of Pakistan, the Armed Forces Chief, the Joint Chief of Staff and the agency people, they were all activated and they were all waiting for orders for them to come out with their teams and provide all the information which they should have done earlier," Mukhtar said.

Mukhtar served as defence minister from 2008 until 2012.

Mukhtar's claims add weight to an article by US investigative reporter Seymour Hersh claiming a Pakistani agent leaked the location of bin Laden to the US.

Pakistani authorities have always categorically denied knowing bin Laden's whereabouts at the time of his death on May 2, 2011.

Pakistan knew bin Laden's whereabouts, claims former defence minister - 9news.com.au

 

[third eye]

This is the worst kept secret of Pakistan

 

[GR!FF!N]

In a shocking revelation, former Defence Minister of Pakistan Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar has said that Pakistan knew that then al-Qaeda chief and most wanted man Osama bin Laden was residing in their country.

Osama bin Laden. AP

In an interview to CNN-IBN, Mukhtar said that the entire Pakistani establishment of that time, including Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, PM Yousaf Raza Gilani, then Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) knew about the presence of Osama on their soil.

"The people who were part and parcel of the whole action like the President of Pakistan, the Armed Forces Chief, the Joint Chief of Staff and the agency people, they were all activated and they were all waiting for orders for them to come out with their teams and provide all the information," Mukhtar told CNN-IBN.

"Some people knew, people in the Pakistan Army as well as people in the other forces they also knew it and they were on the lookout for somebody of the stature of Osama Bin Laden," he further said.

Mukhtar's revelations are in complete contradiction with Pakistan's official stand. Shortly after Osama bin Laden had been gunned down by US Navy Seals, then Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik had said, "I categorically deny any role, any assistance from any Pak official or establishment. The way he (Obama) hid himself, we could not identify him."

In fact, Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said on Tuesday that Pakistan not only knew about Osama bin Laden's hideout but also provided sanctuary to elusive one-eyed former Taliban chief Mullah Omar.

When asked if the Pakistanis and the leadership of Pakistan knew that Osama bin Laden was there inside their country, Abdullah said: "Osama bin Laden, absolutely, yes."

"He was in the military containment, near their military containment in Abottabad...(if Pakistan) doesn't know about him having a residence near a military containment, that poses even a bigger question," he said.

"From one side he (Gen Musharraf) was acting in the front line of the war against terror. From the other side, he was the one providing sanctuary to Mullah Omar," he said.

"They didn't believe that Afghanistan would be able to stand on its own feet. Secondly, the cruel policy there has been, unfortunately, to use terrorism and extremism as a means of achieving foreign policy objectives. And in Taliban they consider that an asset rather than a liability. That was also an important factor," Abdullah added.


Zardari, Gilani, ISI knew Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan, reveals former Defence Minister of Pakistan - Firstpost

 

[Chow chow]

Well no one was surprised that Mr. Laden was in Pakistan.

 

[RazorMC]

I doubt Zardari and Gilani knew anything more than their own bank account numbers.

 

[Leviza]

It's Indian media only .. they have changed the context and its a biggest lie ...

 

[Virk1]

He was living a retired enjoyable life like Hugh hefner in a mension with his young wife half his age before a seals dumped his body in an ocean.what a killjoy uncle sam is.

 

[GR!FF!N]

It's Indian media only .. they have changed the context and its a biggest lie ...

I don't know what you've posted,but here is the video...

whatever he said was reported by media word by word..

 

[RoadRunner401]

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani defence minister Ahmed Mukhtar has categorically denied claiming in an interview with Indian TV channel CNN-IBN that Pakistan had knowledge of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's presence in the country.

Talking to Geo News via telephone, Mukhtar termed the clips of his interview being shown on Indian media as "utter nonsense" and "totally misquoted". His statements had been taken out of context, said Mukhtar, who served as the defence minister in ex-prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's cabinet.

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.

In those clips, Mukhtar is shown to be agreeing to the idea that Pakistan's top civilian and military leadership may have known about Osama's presence in Pakistan.

Following the broadcast of the interview, CNN-IBN on its official Twitter page claimed to have cause a "global impact" with the interview that it said "revealed the truth".

On its website, CNN-IBN asserted that the former defence minister had admitted that Pakistani leadership knew of Osama's presence when he answered in the affirmative (with a "yeah") to the following question asked by the anchor: "So President Zardari, you are saying knew about it, General Kayani, the then Army Chief had information about it and there were people both in the civilian and military chain of command who had prior information about Osama?"

After the interview was aired, Mukhtar rejected the statements as portrayed by CNN-IBN.

"Regarding the interview being shown on CNN-IBN, and having been the defence minister, I categorically deny and consider these statements utter nonsense and totally misquoted," Mukhtar told Geo News.

Mukhtar added that if Pakistan knew about Osama residing in Pakistan, it would have taken action against him.

"The statements have been taken out of context...for example, if we knew about Osama Bin Laden, then we would have taken action ourselves much earlier," he said.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied claims and allegations that it had any knowledge of Osama's presence in the country at the highest levels of civil-military leadership.

In the past, such claims were turned down by the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO), the army itself and Pakistani diplomats.

On March 20, 2014, a text message sent out by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) to correspondents on behalf of the army read: “Nobody in Pakistan knew about the presence of Osama bin Laden”.

Pakistani diplomats in Washington had also rejected the claim that the ISI kept and protected Osama bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, saying such claims contradicted the official US assessment of the situation.

“Since the OBL episode, senior US officials and leaders have on a number of occasions stated on record that they have seen no intelligence linking the government of Pakistan and any of its agencies with Osama’s presence in Abbottabad,” a spokesperson for the Pakistan Embassy in Washington had said at the time.

I don't know what you've posted,but here is the video...

whatever he said was reported by media word by word..

Ex-defence minister denies claiming Pakistani leadership knew about Osama's presence - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

 

[Great Sachin]

Finally Pakistan admits what entire world already knows.....

 

[ice_man]

I don't know what you've posted,but here is the video...

whatever he said was reported by media word by word..

the video is not avaible so i would rather trust DAWN news then fake indian media

Finally Pakistan admits what entire world already knows.....

finally india liescatch up with them as the entire thing is fake

Mukhtar denies saying Pakistani leadership knew about Osama's presence - The Express Tribune

 

[RoadRunner401]

Finally Pakistan admits what entire world already knows.....

OH whats that smell !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ah its smell of desperation from India.

 

[third eye]

the video is not avaible so i would rather trust DAWN news then fake indian media

The video is available & crystal clear too.

 

[ice_man]

The video is available & crystal clear too.

not availble in our country.

Mukhtar denies saying Pakistani leadership knew about Osama's presence - The Express Tribune

funny that india creates this nonsense up once civil nuclear deal talks are on the horizon.

the man denied his statement:

“Had Pakistan knew about Osama residing here, it would have taken action against him,” he added. “The statements have been taken out of context,” he said, while talking to a private news channel.

Pakistan seeks explanation from former defence minister who said Osama bin Laden was given shelter in the country - IBNLive

In fact, in a shocking statement, former interior minister Rehman Malik claimed that Mukhtar was not a defence minister. He also claimed that Mukhtar did not understand the anchor's question and language acted as a barrier. "Nobody knew Osama lived in Pakistan," Malik said.

Earlier, former aide of ex Pakistani Army chief and dictator General Pervez Musharraf, Rashid Qureshi asserted that the claims made by Chaudhary Mukhtar are wrong and that the former defence minister is lying.

"I cannot believe Mukhtar has said this, if this is true then there''s something wrong with Mukhtar.

Pakistan dismisses expose by CNN-IBN on Osama, demands apology - IBNLive

 

[third eye]

not availble in our country.

Mukhtar denies saying Pakistani leadership knew about Osama's presence - The Express Tribune

funny that india creates this nonsense up once civil nuclear deal talks are on the horizon.

the man denied his statement:

“Had Pakistan knew about Osama residing here, it would have taken action against him,” he added. “The statements have been taken out of context,” he said, while talking to a private news channel.

You could go on the CNN- IBN site to see it.

Why would India compel a Pak minister to tell the truth ?