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US warned Pakistan it would come to get Bin Laden: US officials
US official says there was an "understanding" that amounted to acknowledgement for unilateral action.
US official says there was an "understanding" between that amounted to acknowledgement for unilateral action. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
WASHINGTON: The United States repeatedly told Pakistan that Washington would send American forces into that country if it had evidence that Osama bin Laden was hiding there, according to current and former US officials.
The message that the United States would not hesitate to send American operatives into Pakistan to get Bin Laden was transmitted to top Pakistani officials on multiple occasions by the administrations of Presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush, said a US national security official who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information.
A former senior US counter-terrorism official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was an “understanding” between Washington and Islamabad that amounted to an acknowledgment by Pakistani authorities that the United States would take unilateral action on Pakistani soil if it had intelligence on the al Qaeda leader’s whereabouts.
The current US official said the message that the United States would dispatch forces to go after bin Laden if it found him in Pakistan was repeatedly passed on to Pakistani authorities so that, at a minimum, Islamabad should have had no illusions about the US position.
The already-strained relations between Pakistan and the United States became even more tense following the US commando raid this month that killed Bin Laden at a compound near Pakistan’s principal military academy.
On Monday, Britain’s Guardian newspaper, in a report from Islamabad, said the United States and Pakistan nearly a decade ago “struck a secret deal” in which Pakistan would allow American forces to conduct a raid inside Pakistan in search of Bin Laden, his deputy or al Qaeda operational commanders. The Guardian said that as part of the agreement Pakistan would vociferously protest in public any such US incursion. The newspaper said the pact was struck between Bush and General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s military leader at the time.
Dawn, a leading Pakistani newspaper, quoted a spokesman for Musharraf as saying the former leader denied striking any agreement with the United States regarding operations to capture or kill Bin Laden. Musharraf spokesman Fawad Chaudhry told the newspaper that claims of such a deal were baseless and no written or verbal agreement existed between Bush and Musharraf about what the United States would do if it found Bin Laden in Pakistan.
The former US official said that while he believed Pakistan was well aware of US intentions, to his knowledge whatever understanding was reached between Washington and Islamabad was never put in writing.
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Reader Comments (23)
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They way America found Osama Bin Laden, Pakistani forces can find Mullah Omer in Washington. and they can make a better story than Obama.
Wake Up people wake up. tomorrow they can invade our homes by saying we have taliban here…. as you can see in Iraq what did American forces do…..?
you tell me did Americans find any nuclear weapons? nothing but they tore Iraq apart and that will happen with Pakistan if the government does not take solid steps against America.Recommend
So here is the answer to all the unanswered questions.
So what is all this halabala all about. Befooling the fools !!!.
Old chinese proverb! Roar in the east and attack in the west.Recommend
and the credit goes to musharraf.Recommend
General Musharraf is polluting US position. He is also constant source of disgrace of Pakistani Nation, humiliating by all deeds of him. I wonder how he got promoted in the Army having such a dubious character.Recommend
If its true then i think our political rulers are correct in saying that it was a great victory.Recommend
The USA would have performed a special ops in Beijing or Moscow had it been required – and neither of them could have stopped it either.Recommend
LOL….changing statements from “Secret Deal signed” to “Understanding”.
Go Musharraf keeping clarifying yourself and say you dint have this understanding either and ultimately they will spill the truth :DRecommend
@Cautious: yeah right LOL. They cant dare enter China, dont you have in mind an incident where China got US’s stealth spy plane down and got the crew arrested where the pilots destroyed everything inside (avionics)Recommend
Numbskulls, Musharraf’s already dismissed this. Part of misinformation being circulated. Everyone’s a bloody expert on the subject.Recommend
Give me proof OBL was NOT staying in Abbottabad.
otherwise, ask Obama, OBL’s wife & children, Pak army and neighbours.
This world doesn’t have to be according to your wishes only. ISI, army and government made a mistake and should apologise.Recommend
@cautious
I just can laugh at funny Statement. China and Russia are not Satellite State like Pakistan and India. Americans traditionally treat their Allies like this. Ur turn would come after Ten years when u will be under their complete influenceRecommend
@Romm: India is not a satellite state. It is dependent on no one for aid, financial assistance, nor security assistance. It buys its own armaments and develops its own missiles. It was and still is leader of the non-aligned movement (a movement which has suspended Pakistan from membership a number of times) – the largest comity of nations after the UN. It was never member of SEATO, CENTO or any such organization. It is a net contributer now to the IMF.Recommend
@Uzair -
I see you belong to the lot of Pakistanis who pride themselves more in talking about China than anything else!Recommend
@Romm
India is NOT a satellite state of any Country. We are not a UK or a Canada. We have, instance, opposed the US decisions in the UN regarding Iran.
We are not dependent on any US Aid program or tolerate any Country interfering in our affairs(Kashmir for example).
Just because you are down do not drag us down with us.Recommend
America is right on the door to trap Pakistan with all sort of planning mind. They have only motive to destroy our atomic power and clear the way for india to enter in our soil without any hindrance. Indian and America have join strategy to week the Pakistan economically,financially and with label of terrorist state. Why both county support each other the only reason behind:
Indian do not want to see Pakistan as developed country and other Kashmir issue.
American not ready to accept Chinese as Super Power.
American want to capture Pakistan and control all the activities of this region but it is our dispensation that our government officials mouth filled by American through dollars.Recommend
@Romm:
India isn’t Pakistan, which begs America and the world at large to keep its stove burning. We are masters of our own words and deeds. Just check the decision we took in MMRCA eliminating the Americans and Russians. India runs on itself and not by others. Stop thinking about India and Pakistan on the same plank. We are ashamed !!Recommend
I live here in the USA. I am not proud of the way my country treats others, but I nor any other American, we do not have any desire to take over any other country! I nor most Americans do not agree with the war in Iraq, The first war in Afghanistan definitely, but I consider the Afghanistan in 2 parts. The first war against the Taliban, but we should have finished the job! We needed to finish clearing the terrorist out, then helped rebuild the countries infrastructure, then we should have brought our soldiers home. But our brave leader at the time decided that Iraq was a danger to our country, so he lied to everyone to get his war! I can honestly say that almost every American right now is more concerned over their private finances than anything else! But sadly our country politicians decides what we need, and the course of our country and ultimately the world! I read a comment on one of Pakistan’s newspapers that more or less US media runs this country which lately I find to be mostly true! So until Americans wise up, the world will suffer! So please do not hold every American accountable for the stupid political policies of our government!Recommend
@Romm:
India a satellite of US? hahahah — We’ve been opposing the US since the last 50 years at every forum ! Had the Cold War turned hot, India would have surely faught against US!!
Haha — it’s only now US is even allowed into India – hat in hand trying to sell stuff — and India even rejected it’s F-16s and F-18 !! LoL!!
Anyway, in the long haul, it makes sense for India to align with US. If not for anything, to counter China….. A few American spy drones on the India-Tibet border will give every Chinese leader a nervous attack !!Recommend
I don’t understand what all the anger is about. The American military did something the Pakistani military would never have been able to do even if they knew who, what, where, and when a specific target was going to be at.
Honestly, Pakistanis should rejoice that there is one less brain-dead, cowardly, wannabe Muslim extremist. After all, how do we know OBL is not the one working with the Taliban that is causing all the problems in the tribal regions and in our cities?
I’m glad OBL is dead and I hope that the US military can find the rest of the AQ and Taliban members and kill them and get rid of this pest on our soil.Recommend
@Rana
Pray tell us why we the Pakistanis should have nuclear bombs, why should we have India as our perpetual enemy, and why should we interfere and be the godfather of Afghanistan, and why should we be a fort of Islam.
Pray tell us also as to why we should not focus on Universal education, on public healthcare, on stronger economy, and for the pride of the nation in the community of nations.
Once you tell us we may recover from the abject misery that we have dug ourselves into.Recommend
I am afraid all of this is a trap to undermine Pakistan so that the Indians can walk over us. Without our nuclear defense shield we are vulnerable to the designs of Indians. They have yet to allow free and fair elections or a referendum in occupied Kashmir. If we are not careful, they will attack Pakistan. Hopefully with OBL gone, there will be less attention paid to these foreign criminals who have been hiding in Pakistan.Recommend
@Maria: Agree we have not allowed a referendum on cessation. But free and fair elections are happening at all levels of governement of Kashmir – state, district and village. The recent village level elections (called Panchayat elections) have been lauded by all including the Kashmiris. Not even the most die hard of anti -Indian kashmiri politicians have disputed the results or the 80% voter turnout
Yes there is repression in kashmir, I do not deny that. However we do have a semblance of self governance in kashmir within the framework of the Indian constitution.
Can the same be said about so called “Azad kashmir”, FATA or SWAT ?
I agree on one point though with you – without the nuclear sheild, india will walk over you. Before Mumbai 26/11 that was debateable. But after Mumbai, one billion Indians turned against Pakistan. Whether right or wrong, they see Paksitan as the agressor and the direct architect of it.
Maybe you are right. Maybe this is all a trap. But if you play chess you would know that falling into a trap is not an enemy’s fault, it is your own !Recommend
@Maria:
“They have yet to allow free and fair elections or a referendum in occupied Kashmir. ”
Stop reading the Urdu Newspapers for a while. Agencies such as UN send their representatives to monitor elections in each Country to make sure they are free and fair. That fact hasn’t changed. Not only UN, US and EU too send their representatives and Media to cover the elections in India.
There was 78% turnout for the panchayat elections held last month and more than 60% turned out for the Assembly and Parliamentary elections in Kashmir!
http://www.sify.com/news/high-voter-turnout-marks-peaceful-kashmir-panchayat-polls-news-national-lent48cigjf.html
http://news24online.com/ViewDetails.aspx?NewsID=14428
All this was amid call for poll boycott by the Separatists, whom Pakistan trusts as the sole representatives of Jammu and Kashmir. The folly here is these guys have NEVER won an election and Pakistan, in its infinite wisdom, thinks they have the majority support.Recommend