ISI colonel helped in locating Osama bin Laden: Book

Richard Miniter, a famous America journalist, claimed that a colonel of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) assisted the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) track down Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.

In what appeared to be another shocking claim, the book claimed that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani may have been informed about the May 02 raid five months in advance.

The book titled ‘Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him’ claimed that the ISI officer had walked into the CIA’s Islamabad station in August 2010 and provided vital help in tracing the top leader of Al-Qaeda.

The book said, “In a never-before-reported account, Pakistan was more involved in the Bin Laden operation than Obama’s team admitted. When the CIA revealed that an ISI colonel had contacted the CIA in Islamabad and offered information about Bin Laden, a debate followed”.

It added, “Was this a secret sign that the head of the ISI himself was pointing out Bin Laden’s hiding place or was the colonel actually the patriot who hated extremism that he claimed to be? Whatever the motivation, the CIA found Bin Laden’s hiding place within a month of the colonel’s visit”.

The book further claimed that the CIA found that the land was carved out from the Pakistan Military Academy Kakool’s compound where Osama bin Laden lived along with his family.

It added, “Pakistan Army’s chief of staff may have been briefed in December 2010, five months before the nighttime raid on Bin Laden’s concrete castle. No concrete facts about the operation were passed on, but an informal approval was sought.”

Richard Miniter is a renowned American journalist who had worked with The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post in the past.

The book further said, “Far from taking a risk, there are indications that a cover story had been developed with the Pakistani military and that Obama had their tacit consent for the mission”.

It also revealed that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the driving force behind the decision to kill the Al-Qaeda chief, pushing President Barack Obama to take action.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=31300

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Aug 23 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.