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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former intelligence chief chided the US on Thursday for not sharing information about Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts and challenged American intelligence officials to name one time when cooperating led to a botched operation.
Pakistan is facing ongoing pressure from inside the country and abroad to explain why Pakistani intelligence didn't know that bin Laden was hiding in their country and whether some Pakistani officials knew and protected him.
Speaking at a think tank in Paris, Ret. Gen. Ehsan ul Haq, who headed the Pakistani intelligence agency from late 2001 to 2004, said Pakistan has handed over senior al-Qaida operatives, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Abu Zubayda and Ramzi Binalshib.
Information obtained from the three helped develop a wealth of data about al-Qaida, which ultimately led the US to find bin Laden, Haq said.
''The first time that we came across a possible link was somewhere in 2004,'' Haq said.
''We were chasing a person called Abu-Faraj al-Libi, who was wanted for being the mastermind on attempts against President Musharraf himself.''
Just as Pakistan intelligence officials were about to arrest him, the US asked if they could wait.
The US officials said, ''Could you please hold on. Don't take him,'' Haq said, recounting how Pakistani intelligence cooperated with the US '''Maybe this guy can lead us to Osama bin Laden.'''
Haq said Pakistan tried during the next six to eight months to find ties between al-Libi and bin Laden; when they found no links, they arrested al-Libi.
Haq was pointedly asked how Pakistani officials couldn't have known bin Laden was in the country.
“How is it possible that he was sitting there and nobody knew? Well, it is possible,” Haq said. ''For those who do intelligence work, they will tell you that it's possible.''
Then he chided the US for not sharing intelligence about bin Laden's whereabouts.
“It should have been a joint operation, it would have been a success story,” Haq said, adding that it would have strengthened cooperation between US and Pakistani intelligence officials instead of dampening relations.
In Abbottabad, a garrison town in northwest Pakistan where the May 2 raid by US Navy SEALs killed the leader of the al-Qaida terror network, about 300 members of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party rallied Thursday in the main bazaar, denouncing both the American government for approving the raid and Pakistani leaders.
