Four years after the United States Navy SEALs liquidated the most wanted man in the world, Osama bin Laden, the founder and head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, Pakistan’s former defence minister Chaudhary Ahmad Mukthar revealed that the whereabouts of Laden in Abbottabad was known to the then President Asif Ali Zardari.
“President Zardari, Army Chief General Kayani had information about Laden’s and there were people both in the civilian and military chain of command, who had prior information about Osama,” Ahmad Mukthar told CNNIBN in an exclusive interview.
“The people such as the President of Pakistan, the Army Chief, the Joint Chief of Staff and the agency people, who were part and parcel of the whole action, were all activated and they were all waiting for orders for them to come out with their teams and provide all the information which they should have done earlier,” said Ahmad Mukthar.
“If you are trying to get hold of a gentleman who has been hiding away in the mountains for more than 15-18 years, then these kind of people are difficult to be found and once you find them they normally don’t live after that. They attempt suicide. They would attempt to finish off their bodies by just killing themselves. I don’t know why he didn’t run away himself? So, the Pakistanis were all along simply hoping that Osama, if found, would just kill himself, like most terrorists do,” he added.
Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011, by United States Navy SEALs of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group (also known as DEVGRU or SEAL Team Six). The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was carried out in a Central Intelligence Agency-led operation. (ANI)