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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan military officials admit defector's key role in Bin Laden operation |
| 2015-05-13 |
| [DAWN] Two former senior Pakistain military officials told AFP on Tuesday that a 'defector' from country's intelligence agency did assist the US in its hunt for the late Osama bin Laden ... who was laid out deader than a mackerel, right next to the mackerel... but denied the two countries had officially worked together. The officials' accounts came after the publication of a controversial news report by US journalist Seymour Hersh in which he claimed to have uncovered a 'secret deal' between Washington and Islamabad that reportedly resulted in the killing of Al-Qaeda chief in 2011. The White House has flatly rejected Hersh's claims that Pakistain was told in advance about the May 2 special forces raid in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... A source -- who was a serving senior military official at the time of the raid -- told AFP that the defector was a "resourceful and energetic" mid-ranking intelligence officer whose efforts were critical to the operation's success. Hersh's report quoted a senior US source as saying a "walk-in" approached the then-Islamabad station chief for the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2010 promising to lead them to bin Laden, who according to the journalist had been imprisoned by Pak authorities at the Abbottabad compound since 2006. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... the Pak military source told AFP the defector had no knowledge that his target was bin Laden, but he was instead given a task that would help verify the Al-Qaeda chief's identity. The source declined to elaborate on what that task was, but a Pak investigation found that the CIA had run a fake vaccination programme with the help of physician Dr Shakeel Afridi who obtained DNA samples. Qazi Khalilullah, Pakistain's foreign ministry front man, meanwhile said the government was investigating Hersh's account and would announce its reaction soon. "We are looking into the matter and will give our reaction soon," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |