Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence knew Osama bin Laden's hideout

The officials of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence were aware of Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, not only this, they also provided protection and safe houses to his then deputy and now the top al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, according to a new book.

The ISI officials periodically checked on Laden also, this sensational disclosure has been by Chuck Pfarrer, a former SEALs, in his latest book Seal Target Geronimo that hit the stands here Tuesday.

Pfarrer says his account in the book, that gives a blow by blow account of the killing of bin Laden in a surprise US raid in Abbottabad on May 2, is based on his interviews and interaction with members of the SEALs team that killed Bin Laden and the US military and Obama Administration officials.

All the sources have been kept anonymous.

Notably officials of the Obama Administration, department of defense and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have so far maintained that they haven't obtained any evidence which indicates about the ISI knowledge of the whereabouts of bin Laden or providing support infrastructure to him.

"The ISI knew exactly where he was, but did not inform the US. They continued to let Osama pace back and forth in his compound," Pfarrer wrote in his 225-page book published by New York-based St Martin's Press.

Giving an insight into the last few months of bin Laden's life, Pfarrer wrote that he became increasingly reclusive and seldom left the main building, unless it was to put on a set of golden-threaded robes and have one of his aides film him as he tried to read pronouncements to be aired on Al Jazeera or released on al Qaeda's web sites.

Osama raid: Treason charge on Pak doctor

A Pakistani panel, investigating the US raid to kill Osama bin Laden in Abbotabad May 2, Thursday suggested registration of treason charges against a doctor who helped a fake CIA vaccination programme in an attempt to obtain DNA from the Al Qaeda leader's family.

Shakil Afridi was arrested by the Pakistani security agency days after the US military helicopters killed the most wanted man in a compound where he was believed to have lived for years, reported.

The US had reportedly pressurized Pakistan to release Afridi but the authorities rejected the US demand.

"In view of the record and evidence placed before the Commission in relation to Dr Shakeel Afridi, the Commission is of the view that prima facie, a case of conspiracy against the State of Pakistan and high treason is made out against him," a commission statement said.

The statement said that a case under relevant law should be registered against Afridi and he should be proceeded in accordance with law.

Pakistani laws carry death penalty for high treason charges, legal experts say.

The statement said the commission has taken statements and investigated the wives and daughters of Osama bin Laden and they are no more required by the commission.

It also withdrew its earlier order to restrain the Pakistani authorities from handing over the Osama family members to any country.

The commission again interviewed the chief of the main intelligence agency Thursday for the second time in two days.

It conducted an exhaustive interview of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, to know his perspective leading to the Abbottabad incident.

The Commission also allowed the security forces to hand over the alleged Osama compound/house at Abbottabad to the civil administration for disposal in accordance with relevant law.

Sources said the commission's decision may lead to the destruction of Osama's compound as many people are visiting the place daily.

The security forces have blocked all roads to the compound and are not allowing anyone, including journalists, to visit the building.

Osama's bodyguard freed by Pakistan: Report

Pakistan has freed a senior al Qaeda commander who served as a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden, a media report said.

Amin al-Haq was detained in Lahore three years ago by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. He had escaped from Afghanistan with the al Qaeda leader in 2001 and went on to become a key financial aide.

The ISI had passed al-Haq on to the police before he was released earlier this month, The Telegraph newspaper reported on Thursday quoting a security source in Peshawar, where he had been held.

"Amin al-Haq had been arrested mistakenly, therefore, the police failed to prove any charge of his association with Osama bin Laden and the court set him free," he told.

Al-Haq, who is thought to be 51, has a long history with armed groups. He fought Soviet forces during the 1980s and was part of the Afghan delegation, which travelled to Sudan in the 1996 to bring Osama to Afghanistan.

The US froze al-Haq's assets after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre, according to the newspaper.

Haqqani was once a White House guest!

Even as the administration of President Barack Obama is engaged in a war of words with Pakistan over acting against the deadly Haqqani network, reports, today, claimed that its founder Jalaluddin Haqqani was once a key ally of the US government.

Reports quoted Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Mallik saying, “The network’s aging leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a respected commander and key US and Pakistani ally in resisting the Soviet Union after its 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. Haqqani even visited President Ronal Reagan at the White House.”

Mallik even claimed that in 1992, three years after the Soviet withdrawal, Haqqani and others seized power in Afghanistan with US approval. In the 1980s and 1990s, Haqqani also hosted Saudi fighters including Osama bin Laden. That hospitality is believed to have been extended to al Qaida and other foreign fighters on both sides of the border today.

After the Taliban seized power in the mid-1990s, it made Haqqani a government minister. Following the Islamist regime’s ouster he was again offered Cabinet posts – this time by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. But he decided to focus on ridding Afghanistan of Western troops.

Malik also refuted claims that Pakistan’s spy agency ISI was backing the Haqqani network and training its members. Talking to media-persons at a ceremony held to laud the Islamabad police over the recovery of a huge cache of weapons, Mallik said, “CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) of the United States actually created the Haqqani network and those claiming otherwise should give the evidence of its presence in Pakistan.”

“We will fight the terrorists as our forces are capable of handling them and countering any challenge,” the minister was quoted as saying.

Mallik also stated Pakistan’s seriousness in combating terrorism is evident from its action against militants in SWAT and other troubled areas, which shows that the law enforcement agencies were making sincere efforts to root out the menace of terrorism.

He said that the nation was confident of the capabilities of Pakistan Army, government leadership and its strength as Pakistanis.

The alliance between Pakistan and the United States in the 10-year war in Afghanistan and against al Qaeda hit rock bottom this year in the wake of the unilateral American raid that killed Osama bin Laden near Islamabad on May 2.

The US administration then asked the Pakistani government to clamp down on the Haqqani network, which is responsible for attacks on the US embassy in Kabul and on ISAF as well as some others.

No pleasure in Osama death: Bush

Former president George W Bush says he experienced no pleasure when he heard about the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, mastermind of Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks.

"He was sitting in a restaurant in Dallas when the Secret Service told him that President (Barack) Obama wanted to speak to him. He then learned about the assassination," documentarian Peter Schnall told.

Bush "said to us certainly there was no sense of jubilation (and) certainly no sense of happiness," Schnall stressed. "If anything, he felt that finally there was a sense of closure."

"We could see in the interview that the president was very taken by the events of that day," said Schnall, who interviewed Bush as part of a documentary on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. "He was very emotional."

Bush, who was in a Florida classroom for an education event when he first heard about the attacks told Schnall that initially he thought a small plane had hit one of the towers at New York's World Trade Centre.

"First, I thought it was a light aircraft, and my reaction was, man, either the weather was bad or something extraordinary happened to the pilot," Bush said.

But then-White House Chief of Staff "Andy Card's Massachusetts accent was whispering in my ear-'A second plane has hit the second tower. America is under attack.'"

In light of the intense controversy surrounding the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, asked if he had any regrets, Bush "kind of looked at me ... and said, 'I hate that damn question,'" Schnall said.

"He did not ever use the word regret. He did not ever say he would do anything differently." But Bush did acknowledge the controversy and division created by his decisions.

Pakistan detains 3 Al Qaeda suspects

Pakistani intelligence officers working with the CIA arrested three members of Al Qaeda including a top operative believed to have been tasked by Osama bin Laden with targeting American economic interests around the world, Pakistan's army said Monday.

Younis al-Mauritani's arrest - made public five days before the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks - was seen as a blow to Al Qaeda's central leadership in Pakistan, further degrading its ability to mount terrorist attacks abroad. The terrorist organization has seen its senior ranks thinned since Osama bin Laden was killed May 2 along with Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, the group's No.2, in a CIA missile strike last month.

The public announcement of close cooperation with the CIA appeared aimed at reversing the widespread perception that ties between U.S. intelligence and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency had been badly damaged by the U.S. killing of bin Laden inside Pakistan.

The Pakistani military said the arrests took place near the Afghan border in the southwestern city of Quetta, long known as a base for militants. It did not say when.

The capture of an Al Qaeda operative inside Pakistan has become rare in recent years: most targets of CIA operations in the country have been killed by drone aircraft in a relentless series of operations launched in 2008. His capture is likely to sew chaos within Al Qaeda: even if he does not reveal compromising information, that possibility is almost certain to force the network to alter plans, move operatives and make a variety of other sudden changes damaging its ability to carry out attacks.

"This operation was planned and conducted with technical assistance of United State Intelligence Agencies with whom Inter-Services Intelligence has a strong, historic intelligence relationship. Both Pakistan and United States Intelligence agencies continue to work closely together to enhance security of their respective nations," the military said in a written statement.

Al Qaeda's center of operations is believed to be in the lawless tribal areas of northwest Pakistan, many hours from Quetta, a large city that's home to both the Taliban's ruling council and a significant Pakistani military presence.

The statement said al-Mauritani was mainly responsible for Al Qaeda's international operations and was tasked by bin Laden with hitting targets of economic importance in America, Europe and Australia. It said he was planning to target U.S. economic interests including gas and oil pipelines, power generating dams and oil tankers by using explosive-laden speed boats in international waters.

It named the other two detainees as Abdul-Ghaffar al-Shami and Messara al-Shami.

U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment. The U.S. has said it doesn't know of any specific Al Qaeda plot to attack the U.S. ahead of Sept. 11.

Since the 2001, attacks, Pakistan's spy agency has cooperated with the CIA to arrest scores of Al Qaeda suspects, most of whom were handed over to the United States.

"This reflects how Pakistan and the United States working together can deal an effective blow to the terrorists," said Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani. He said the intelligence cooperation had been restored almost to levels prior to a series of U.S.-Pakistan diplomatic clashes.

Many top Al Qaeda commanders are still believed to live in Pakistan, and getting Islamabad's cooperation in cracking down on the network has been a top American goal since 2001. But there have been persistent suspicions that the country was protecting militants. The fact that bin Laden was killed in an army town close to the capital, Islamabad, led to fresh doubts over Pakistan's commitment.

Michael Vickers, the Pentagon's under secretary of defense for intelligence, told The New York Times in a recent interview there were perhaps four important Al Qaeda leaders left in Pakistan, and 10 to 20 leaders over all in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.