Pakistan tipped Osama when US troops were

near: WikiLeaks

Posted: Wed May 04 2011, 00:45 hrs New York, Islamabad:

US President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and members of the national
security team, being updated on the Osama mission in the Situation Room at White House on Sunday, in an image released
to AP. A paper in front of Clinton has been digitally obscured. AP

US diplomats were told that one of the key reasons why they had failed to
find Osama bin Laden for years was that Pakistan’s security services tipped
him off whenever US troops approached, according to claims made in
leaked US government documents obtained by WikiLeaks.
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) also allegedly smuggled al-
Qaeda terrorists through airport security to help them avoid capture and
sent a unit into Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban, the WikiLeaks
cables obtained by Britain’s Daily Telegraph show.
The claims, the daily said, will add to questions over Pakistan’s capacity to
fight the dreaded terror outfit al-Qaeda. In December 2009, the
government of Tajikistan warned the US that efforts to catch Osama were
being thwarted by corrupt Pakistani spies. According to a US diplomatic
dispatch, General Abdullo Sadulloevich Nazarov, a senior Tajik counter-
terrorism official, told the Americans that “many” inside Pakistan knew
where Osama was.
The document stated, “In Pakistan, Osama bin Laden wasn’t an invisible
man, and many knew his whereabouts in North Waziristan, but whenever
security forces attempted a raid on his hideouts, the enemy received
warning of their approach from sources in the security forces.” Last year,
British Prime Minister David Cameron caused a diplomatic furore when he
told Pakistan that it could not “look both ways” on terrorism. The Pakistani
government issued a strongly-worded rebuttal.
The successful night raid on Osama in the garrison town of Abbottabad, 120
km from Islamabad, late Sunday was carried out without the knowledge of
the Pakistan government. In addition, intelligence obtained from prisoners
at Guantanamo Bay likely made US officials reluctant to share information
with their Pakistani counterparts.
Intelligence gathered from detainees at Guantanamo Bay may also have
made the Americans wary of sharing their operational plans with the
Pakistani government, the paper said. One detainee, Saber Lal Melma, an
Afghan whom the US described as a probable facilitator for al-Qaeda,
allegedly worked with the ISI to help members flee Afghanistan after the
US bombing began in October 2001.
His US military Guantanamo Bay detainee file, obtained by WikiLeaks and
seen by The Daily Telegraph, claims he allegedly passed the al-Qaeda Arabs
to Pakistani security forces who then smuggled them across the border into
Pakistan. He was also overheard “bragging about a time when the ISI sent a
military unit into Afghanistan, posing as civilians to fight along side the
Taliban against US forces”, according to the file. “He also allegedly detailed
ISI’s protection of al-Qaeda members at Pakistan airports. The ISI
members diverted al-Qaeda members through unofficial channels to avoid
detection from officials in search of terrorists,” the file claims.
Pak needs to do more about LeT, Hafiz Saeed:
Roemer

Posted: Wed May 04 2011, 12:40 hrs New Delhi:

American Ambassador to India, Timothy J Roemer, said that the Congress was re-thinking about aid to Pakistan. (Express
Photo)
Terming as a "matter of concern" the fact that Osama bin Laden was found outside
Islamabad, the US on Wednesday said it would like to go to the bottom of this issue and
also ensure that the aid given to Pakistan is used to target Lashker-e-Taiba along with
al-Qaeda.
Timothy J Roemer, US Ambassador to India, said the American Congress would be
taking a "very hard look" and ask "tough" questions as to how terror mastermind and al-
Qaeda leader bin Laden was living in Abottabad, north of Islamabad. "We are certainly
going to see the Capitol Hill (US Congress) take a very hard look at the assistance that
we give and we invest in security for Pakistan," Roemer told reporters in New Delhi.
Noting that the Congress was going to engage in two very fundamentally important task
in the weeks ahead, he said the US lawmakers will look into the selling of military
equipment to Pakistan and the presence of bin Laden in Abottabad.
"One will be as we share or sell certain military equipment to Pakistan. Is that being
used in the proper way to take on counter terrorism efforts. We have seen over the past
18 months, Pakistan has stepped up those efforts to target al- Qaeda leadership and
degrade that leadership. That is a positive outcome," he said.
However, he said, "Are they doing enough on LeT? Are doing enough on Mumbai trials?
Are they doing enough on Hafiz Saeed and (Zaki-ur-Rehman) Lakhvi? No, they need to
do more."
He said the other question that will be raised by the US Congress will be with respect to
bin Laden being discovered outside of Islamabad. "We remember Khalid Sheikh
Mohammad was discovered inside Rawalpindi back in 2003. This is a concern. Congress
will ask tough questions and we want to get to the bottom of it. How do we more
effectively use that aid to make sure that Pakistan is helping us not only degrade al
Qeada but go after groups like LeT," he said.

No apology for violating Pakistan air space:

US
May 4, 2011, Washington

The United States will not apologise to Pakistan for its unilateral military action
against al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden at his hideout in that country, the White
House has said.
"We make no apologies about that," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said
when asked whether the US should have gone unilaterally inside Pakistan to get bin
Laden.

"He was enemy number one for this country and killed many many innocent civilians.
And no apologies," Carney said.

Pakistan yesterday termed the US commando operation in Abbottabad that killed

Laden an "unauthorised, unilateral action" without its knowledge.

Besides, the White House said America has never been at war with Islam.

"This has never been a war against Islam. President (George W) Bush said that;
President (Barack) Obama has said that.

Musharraf jogged in area where Osama

was found
IANS, London, May 4, 2011

Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has said that when he was training in
the military, he would frequently run through the area where Osama bin Laden was
hiding, a media report said.

The Al Qaeda leader was killed Monday by US commandos in Pakistan's Abbottabad

city.

Musharraf said that during the training period at the Pakistan Military Academy, he
used to go running where Osama was killed by US commandos in the daring raid,
reported The Telegraph.

The house where Osama was found was constructed in 2005 and was located barely
a few hundred yards from the Pakistan Military Academy.

"It surprises me it was next to the Pakistan military academy," The Telegraph quoted
Musharraf as saying.

"The location is next to the place where I used to run nine miles, en route, maybe
passing in front of the house. That is surprising."
The media report said that Musharraf's statement means that military cadets regularly
run past Osama's home.

Musharraf said he had no knowledge of Osama's whereabouts when he ruled

Pakistan from 1999 to 2008.

"One can call it a failing or a shortcoming of intelligence, but then it's a shortcoming of
both intelligences - Pakistan and the United States."

Pakistan would have jeopardised Osama raid: CIA chief

Washington, May 4, (IANS):

Pakistan was not included in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden as US officials
feared it could have undermined the operation by leaking word to its targets,
according to CIA chief Leon Panetta.

Months before the launch of the mission on Friday, the US had considered expanding
the assault to include coordination with other countries, notably Pakistan, he told Time
magazine.

But the CIA ruled out participating with Pakistan early on because "it was decided that
any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardise the mission. They might alert the
targets," Panetta said.

The US also considered running a high-altitude bombing raid from B-2 bombers or
launching a "direct shot" with cruise missiles but ruled out those options because of the
possibility of "too much collateral," Panetta said.

The direct-shot option was still on the table as late as last Thursday as the CIA and then
the White House grappled with how much risk to take on the mission. Waiting for more
intelligence also remained a possibility.

On Tuesday, Panetta assembled a group of 15 aides to assess the credibility of the

intelligence the suspected bin Laden compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

"What if you go down and you're in a firefight and the Pakistanis show up and start
firing?" Panetta said some worried. "How do you fight your way out?" But Panetta
concluded that the evidence was strong enough to risk the raid and told President
Barack Obama so.

Obama decided that Panetta's arguments trumped two other options: striking the
compound remotely or waiting until more evidence was available to prove bin Laden
was there.

The aftermath of the mission has been productive, as the US collected an "impressive
amount" of material from bin Laden's compound, including computers and other
electronics, Panetta said.

Panetta has set up a task force to act on the fresh intelligence. Intelligence reporting
suggests that one of bin Laden's wives who survived the attack has said the family had
been living at the compound since 2005, Time magazine citing a source.

US promises 'hard look' at Pakistan aid, wants action on

26/11
New Delhi, May 4, (IANS):

Underlining that Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan, US envoy Timothy J.
Roemer on Wednesday said Washington will take a ''hard look'' at the assistance
being given to the country and pressed Islamabad to do more to bring the
terrorists who attacked Mumbai to book.

"We are certainly going to see Capitol Hill take a very hard look at the assistance that
we give, and we invest in security for Pakistan and quite frankly for India. India has a
vested interest in a more prosperous Pakistan," Roemer told reporters here on the
sideline of an event.

Saying Pakistan needs to do more against terrorists, Roemer said it has to be seen
whether Islamabad is using the funds given by the US in a "proper way".

"Congress is going to engage in I think two very fundamentally important tasks in the
weeks ahead. One will be as we share or sell certain military equipment to Pakistan, is
that being used in the proper way to take on counter terrorism efforts.

"We have seen over the past 18 months Pakistan has stepped up those efforts to target
Al Qaeda leadership and degrade the leadership. Are they doing enough on Lashkar-e-
Taiba? Are they doing enough on Mumbai trials? Are they doing enough on Hafiz
Saeed and (Zakiur Rehman) Lakhvi? No, they need to do more," he said.

He said Pakistan needs to show results on the Mumbai trials, saying senior US officials
visiting Islamabad have been pressing for it.

"Senior level visitors from the US going to Islamabad have made very clear that
Pakistan needs to do more. They need to show progress and results on the Mumbai
trials. That Mumbai attack on 26/11 killed scores of Indians, six Americans, and the US
wants to see progress and results and justice."

Roemer also said Osama's discovery in Pakistan would also be taken up. The fugutive
was killed by US forces in a mansion in Pakistan's Abbottabad town Sunday night.

"The second part of this will be in respect to bin Laden being discovered outside of
Islamabad. We remember Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was discovered inside Rawalpindi
back in 2003, this is a concern.

"Congress will ask tough questions and go to the bottom. How do we more effectively
use that aid, I am sure Pakistan is helping us not only degrade Al Qaeda, but go after
groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba," he said.

US says bin Laden unarmed when killed; more pressure

on Pakistan
Reuters

A Pakistan army soldier stands on top of the house where it is believed al-Qaida leader
Osama bin Laden lived in Abbottabad, Pakistan on Monday, May 2, 2011. Bin Laden,
the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of
people, was slain in his hideout in Pakistan early Monday in a firefight with US forces,
ending a manhunt that spanned a frustrating decade. — AP Photo

ABBOTTABAD/WASHINGTON: Osama bin Laden was unarmed when he was shot

dead by US special forces, the White House said, as Pakistan faced further
pressure on Wednesday to explain how the world’s most-wanted man was able to
shelter so long in a town near its capital.

Washington vowed to “get to the bottom” of whether Pakistan helped bin Laden elude a
10-year manhunt before he was killed in a US raid on his fortified compound in the town
of Abbottabad.

Islamabad denied it gave shelter to the al Qaeda leader.

The CIA said it did not tell Pakistan in advance about the raid because it feared bin
Laden would be tipped off, highlighting the depth of mistrust between the two supposed
allies.

US officials were also wrestling with whether to release graphic photographs of bin
Laden’s body – which could provide proof of his death but also risks offending Muslims.

“It’s fair to say that it’s a gruesome photograph,” said White House spokesman Jay
Carney.

Pakistan has welcomed bin Laden’s death, but its foreign ministry expressed “deep
concerns” about what it called an “unauthorized unilateral action”. US helicopters
carrying the commandos used radar “blind spots” in the hilly terrain along the Afghan
border to enter Pakistani airspace undetected.

Carney insisted bin Laden resisted during the raid – although he would not say how –
when US forces stormed his compound north of Islamabad and engaged in a firefight
there.

“There was concern that bin Laden would oppose the capture operation and, indeed, he
resisted,” Carney said. “A woman, bin Laden’s wife, rushed the US assaulter and was
shot in the leg but not killed. Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed.”

While many world leaders applauded the US operation that killed bin Laden, there were
concerns in parts of Europe that the United States was wrong to act as policeman,
judge and executioner.

US Attorney General Eric Holder defended the action as lawful on Tuesday, but some in
Europe said bin Laden should have been captured and put on trial.

“It was quite clearly a violation of international law,” former West German Chancellor
Helmut Schmidt told German TV.

“The operation could also have incalculable consequences in the Arab world in light of
all the unrest.”

Pakistan under Scrutiny

Pakistan has come under intense international scrutiny since bin Laden’s death, with
questions on whether its security agencies were too incompetent to catch him or knew
all along where he was hiding, and even whether they were complicit.

The compound where bin Laden has been hiding, possibly for as long as five or six
years, was close to Pakistan’s military academy in Abbottabad, about 40 miles (65 km)
from Islamabad.
“It would be premature to rule out the possibility that there were some individuals inside
of Pakistan, including within the official Pakistani establishment, who might have been
aware of this,” White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan told National Public
Radio.

“We’re not accusing anybody at this point, but we want to make sure we get to the
bottom of this.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron told BBC radio that Islamabad must answer
questions about what he called bin Laden’s “support network” in Pakistan.

CIA Director Leon Panetta, in an unusually blunt interview with Time magazine,
explained why Islamabad was not informed of the raid until all the helicopters carrying
the US Navy SEALs and bin Laden’s body were out of Pakistani airspace.

“It was decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardize the mission:
They might alert the targets,” Panetta said.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, in the first substantive public comment by any
Pakistani leader, defended his government, which receives billions of dollars in aid from
the United States.

“Some in the US press have suggested that Pakistan lacked vitality in its pursuit of
terrorism, or worse yet that we were disingenuous and actually protected the terrorists
we claimed to be pursuing,” Zardari wrote in the Washington Post. “Such baseless
speculation doesn’t reflect fact.”

Later Pakistan’s foreign ministry said its Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency had
been sharing information about the compound with the CIA and other friendly
intelligence agencies since 2009 and had continued to do so until mid-April.

“It is important to highlight that taking advantage of much superior and technological
assets, CIA exploited the intelligence leads given by us to identify and reach Osama bin
Laden,” the ministry said in a lengthy statement.

Rating Boost

Obama has enjoyed a popularity boost from the killing of the architect of the Sept. 11
attacks on New York and Washington.

About four in 10 Americans say their opinion of Obama improved after he ordered the
raid. But the bump in his ratings could be short-lived as voters focus again on domestic
concerns crucial to his 2012 re-election prospects.
Can we have our ball
back, Mr Bin Laden (The Sun)

Wreckage ... Navy Seals' crashed copter yesterday

myView
By FRANK LUNTZ
US political consultant
IN 1945 Winston Churchill won a great war for the British people, who expressed their
gratitude by voting him out of office.
In 1991 George Bush Senior crushed Saddam Hussein. He was also voted out of office.
Bin Laden's death prompted spontaneous celebrations across America.
But I, as an experienced pollster, wonder if the mood will last 18 weeks - let alone the 18
months there are before the 2012 US Presidential election.
Barack Obama is the favourite to win, but not because of the death of Bin Laden. He is
favourite because there is a relatively weak Republican field.
Petrol prices are on the rise. So are grocery prices and the price of just about every other
aspect of American life. The economic facts of life will have more impact on election day
than the killing of the world's foremost terrorist.

Daniel Alvi, 16, dodged security to retrieve it BOTH times.

He said yesterday in the hill town of Abbottabad, which is 65 miles from Pakistan's capital: "I
went over the wall on two occasions after I hit the ball over there.
"Luckily for me there was no one around. I think there was a $25million reward for Bin
Laden - but I never imagined he was in there."
Ice cream vendor Tanvir Ahmed confirmed: "If a ball went into Bin Laden's compound the
children would not be allowed to get it.

2 wives, 3 kids ... Bin Laden

"They were given money instead. They were paid 100 to 150 rupees (£2.50) per ball."
The sprawling million-dollar hideaway is a far cry from the dank caves that Bin Laden's
acolytes were led to believe he was skulking in. Yesterday it bore the scars of Sunday's
sensational raid.
Walls and floors were blood-spattered. Among the debris a clock on the floor was stuck at
2.20am - when the elite US Navy Seals struck.
The remains of a Black Hawk helicopter blown up by the squad after it crashed into the
compound with a fault was a twisted tangle of scorched metal. Bits were carried off by
trophy-hunters.
 The scavenger ... youngster picks up debris from the firefight
Barcroft
The crack troops escaped in three other choppers. They were in and out within 40 minutes -
taking Bin Laden's corpse with them.
Duped al-Qaeda fanatics had long justified the hardships they were expected to endure with
the thought their leader was surviving in stone-age conditions in the unforgiving mountains
of Afghanistan.
In reality the secret three-storey residence was built for him across the border seven years
ago - and he had spent at least half a decade relaxing there.
White House counter-terrorism chief John Brennan confirmed: "He was in this compound
for the past five or six years."
 The mechanic ... fixed Osama Bin Laden car 10 days ago
Barcroft
Bin Laden never ventured out and kept away from windows while living the life of a cult
leader surrounded by nine women - at least two of them his wives - and 23 kids.
Two other families lived alongside his own. The children - none of whom were injured in the
US raid - were aged between three and eight, according to local tailor Siraj Ahmad, who
was often asked to make clothes for them.
Zarar Ahmed, 12, told how he would visit the vast 38,000 sq ft compound to play with Bin
Laden's kids. He said: "He had two wives. One spoke Arabic and the other Urdu. They had
three children, a girl and two boys. They gave me two rabbits.
"They had installed a camera at the outer gate so they could see people before they
entered the house."
 The gifts ... Osama Bin Laden kids gave Zarar two rabbits
BBC
The milkman only delivered to outside the security gate - and never rang the bell. Anyone
daring to lean on the wall was warned to move on.
A woman medic once turned up to try to give the kids polio vaccines but was turned away -
after commenting on the expensive SUVs she saw parked behind the walls that were
topped with razor wire.
Farmer Mashood Khan, 45, said local gossip was that the occupants were "smugglers or
drug dealers".
He added: "People would complain that even with such a big house they didn't invite the
poor or distribute charity."
 The shopkeeper ... Raja Shuja sold crisps and Coke to henchmen
Barcroft
Shopkeepers told how the youngsters would be sent to fetch provisions with two of the
terror chief's henchmen - both of whom are believed to have been killed. One was named
locally as Arshad Khan - who local cops claimed was the registered owner of the property.
Records indicated the name was an alias.
Shopkeeper Raja Shuja said of the two men: "They were always in a hurry and never
stopped for chit chat. Their car was always shining, not necessarily brand new but kept very
clean.
"They used to always come for snacks and buy litre bottles of Coke, crisps and ice lollies
when it was warm. They always paid with fresh hundred rupee notes.
"I remember they once said they had to go and pay some bills - so they must have been in
charge of jobs like that. One was about 33 and the other maybe 36."
Mechanic Wajid Mushtaq, 29, who serviced their red Suzuki car, told how both were gruff-
voiced and heavy smokers. He said: "I'm sure they were cousins. The last time I saw them
was about ten days ago over a dent in the car.
"Sometimes there would be four or five children in the back seat. They were always polite
kids."
The compound boasted an arsenal of weapons and ammo, including rocket launchers.
Alongside were toys such as bikes, a smashed red pedal car and a dolls house.
Bin Laden's youngest wife, 27-year-old Amad Ahmed al-Sadah, was at first thought to have
been killed as he tried to flee using her as a human shield. Yesterday it emerged she
suffered only a leg wound.

The cops ... security officers at front gate

Big
Pakistani officials said of those who had been living in the compound: "They are all in safe
hands and being looked after in accordance with the law.
"Some need medical care and are under treatment in the best possible facilities. As per
policy, they will be handed over to their countries of origin."
n.parker@the-sun.co.uk

'Joke' as Seals got ready for killer raid

A NAVY Seal jokingly told a pal just hours before the raid on Osama Bin Laden: "It's a good
day to be in the sandbox."
The email gave no explanation - and no hint that America was closing in on the world's
most wanted man.
But last night the nine simple words gave a glimpse into the elite unit's relaxed mood ahead
of the top-secret mission.
The message about the "sandbox", US forces slang for desert war zone, was sent to a New
York cop. He had met several members of the Seal team in 2005 when he gave them a
guided tour of Ground Zero.
Last year he met them again when the team invited him and his five-year-old son to a
barbecue. The cop told how the lad was "on cloud nine" after his afternoon spent with
"some real heroes".
The Seals flew out to Pakistan last month and were given the go-ahead at 1.20pm British
time on Friday - just as William and Kate kissed on the balcony at Buckingham Palace.

Brits say America was right

A MAJORITY of Brits back America's decision to kill Osama Bin Laden, a poll for The Sun
reveals.
A total of 54 per cent said US Special Forces were right to gun down the warlord.
But 37 per cent in the YouGov poll said he should have been captured and put on trial.
Nearly one in three people said his death made the West "less safe".
Only 12 per cent thought the world safer, while half said it made "no difference".
Seven out of ten Brits approved of President Obama's performance - with only 15 per cent
objecting.
And in a separate US poll, more than three-quarters of Americans thought the President
deserved credit for the killing.

Data find will trap fanatics

 Man of words — and weapons ... Bin Laden with library and AK47 at cave in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains in
1996
Osama Bin Laden was unarmed
TERRORST not armed when he was killed just like those he murdered in 9/11 and 7/7 attacks
By VIRGINIA WHEELER, Defence Editor and NICK PARKER

A TREASURE trove of computers, hard drives and discs snatched by US Navy

Seals from Osama Bin Laden's HQ could nail THOUSANDS of other terrorists.
US officials last night called it "the mother lode of intelligence".
The data could prove even more significant in crippling al-Qaeda than Sunday's execution
of their warlord.
The existence of the huge haul was revealed as Pakistani intelligence bosses admitted they
DID know where Bin Laden was hiding.
Special Forces troops grabbed five computers, ten hard drives and more than 100 computer
memory devices, including DVDs and memory sticks, during the raid on Bin Laden's
compound lair in Abbottabad.
Hundreds of agents were last night examining the material in Afghanistan.
A US intelligence official said spy bosses were "very excited". He added: "The Seals
cleaned it out. Can you imagine what's on Osama Bin Laden's hard drive?"
John Brennan, White House senior adviser on counter-terrorism, confirmed: "We were able
to acquire material.
"We're interested in insights into any terrorist plot that might be under way and leads to
other individuals in the organisation and their capabilities."
It emerged that Bin Laden was cornered on the third floor of his base. Two of his couriers
and a woman hit by cross-fire died with him.

Compound ... Seals' haul and location of residents

Two top-ranking Pakistani intelligence officers told The Sun yesterday that they knew for
several weeks that Bin Laden was at Abbottabad.
The men, who did not want their identities revealed, claimed they hoped to capture the al-
Qaeda boss but the US beat them to it.
One, a commander in the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), said: "Bin Laden's
presence in Abbottabad was discussed at the highest level. We were 100 per cent sure. We
wanted to act before the US got their hands on him. Top bosses wanted us to wait."
An intelligence bureau director added: "We were getting close to that house weeks back.
We had finalised he was in there. All the relevant authorities were told. We were waiting for
a decision when the US acted."
Former ISI chief Lieutenant General Hamid Gul said he thought corrupt agency bosses
were preparing to SELL the information to the US - or capture Bin Laden and grab the
$25million bounty on his head.
Gul, 74, said: "The ISI and the government must have known everything."

Tense ... Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton watch raid unfold on live feed

President Asif Ali Zardari denied Pakistan "lacked vitality" in its fight against terrorism. And
ISI officials said they handed information on the compound to the US.
But PM David Cameron warned that all the facts suggested Bin Laden had an "extensive
support network" in Pakistan.
He said "searching questions" needed to be asked.
But he vowed that the UK would stand by "democratic Pakistan" and insisted a controversial
£650million aid package he pledged last month would survive. Tory MP Philip Davies called
the aid deal "an outrage".
A document released by WikiLeaks last week showed that Libyan terrorist Faraj al-Libi told
US interrogators in 2008 that Bin Laden had a base in Abbottabad.
v.wheeler@the-sun.co.uk
Who sheltered Osama bin Laden?
Kayani among suspects
NEW DELHI: The US is turning the heat on Pakistan's ISI as it tries to establish the
identity of those who sheltered Osama bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad.
And, going by reports in the US media and assessments made by Indian experts, the
needle of suspicion is pointing at not just ISI boss Shuja Pasha but also two of his
predecessors, one of whom is none other than Pakistan army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez
Kayani.

Kayani was the ISI chief when Osama is said to have shifted to the Abbottabad mansion
in 2005. Pasha is now said to be under pressure to quit as the ISI failed to detect
Osama's presence for almost three years under him. Kayani's successor in the ISI,
Nadeem Taj who took over in October 2007, is the third and an equally strong suspect.
Known as the most rabid anti-US and anti-India boss the agency has had in the recent
past, Taj was eased out of ISI after a 10-month tenure in 2008 allegedly under pressure
from the US.

"In any enquiry regarding collusion between the ISI and Osama bin Laden since 2005,
which enabled OBL to live in Abbottabad, the main suspicion has to be on Nadeem Taj
followed by Pasha and Kayani," security expert B Raman said. It was during Taj's
tenure as ISI chief that the agency used David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur
Hussain Rana for reconnaissance missions in India and during which the July 2008
bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul took place. It is significant that Taj was heading
the Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad before taking over as ISI chief.

The US has sought information about those senior officials who worked closely with
militants in the past and Taj's name is likely to figure right at the top. As former foreign
secretary Kanwal Sibal put it, though, it is inconceivable that Osama continued to live
right under the nose of the military establishment without the knowledge of Kayani who
headed ISI in 2005.

"Kayani would have known and so would have Pasha. One can't dispense with reason
and logic simply because there is no documentary evidence to prove it," Sibal told TOI.
He added that he did not see anything relevant coming out of the US exercise to identify
those who helped Osama hide in Abbottabad because the Pakistanis were not going to
give any "self-incriminating" information to the US.

The New York Times earlier reported about the growing suspicion in the US security
establishment that at least somebody in ISI was aware of Osama's whereabouts. It said
the US was frustrated as even in the past, Pakistani military and intelligence had failed
to identify those ISI officials who had worked closely with Osama since the war against
the Soviets in Afghanistan. "There are degrees of knowing, and it wouldn't surprise me if
we find out that someone close to Pasha knew," it quoted a US official as saying.
Former CIA officer Art Keller was also quoted as saying that, at best, it was a case of
willful blindness on the part of the ISI. "Willful blindness is a survival mechanism in
Pakistan," Keller said, adding that Osama wouldn't have ventured into Abbottabad if he
did not have any assurance of protection.