Osama bin Laden had prior knowledge of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He wanted to establish an Al Qaeda state in Pakistan following the breakout of full-scale war between the two nuclear armed neighbours.
These revelations were made in the recently published book ‘Pakistan’s secret war on Al-Qaeda’, written by Azaz Syed, an investigative journalist and a former correspondent for DawnNews.
The first chapter in the book reveals the untold story of Khalid Sheikh Muhammed (KSM), a close aide of Osama bin Laden and the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. Based on interviews of KSM’s Pakistani facilitators and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials who were involved in his capture and subsequent interrogation, previously unknown details about KSM’s life and activities have come to the forefront.
According to the book, Major General Ehtesham Zameer of the ISI had received a tip off from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) about the expected arrival of a high value target at Islamabad airport. The target was a Saudi financier of the 9/11 attacks, and was tailed by ISI operatives to a house in Rawalpindi. The house in question belonged to one Dr Abdul Qudoos, who had befriended KSM in Germany and Sudan.
The elusive KSM, had been dodging security agencies since 1995, when his nephew, Yousuf Ramzi was arrested from a guesthouse in Pakistan. Ramzi was wanted by the United States for the murder of CIA officials in the US. KSM was also present at the same guesthouse, but managed to evade capture.
Years later, KSM was apprehended in Pakistan along with Mustafa Hawsawi, the Saudi financier of 9/11, a fact which not reported by the media.
Osama's reclusive life
Other chapters in the book gives details of Osama bin Laden, who was hosted in Pakistan by Kuwaiti brothers, bin Laden’s trusted couriers and confidants. The book sheds light on his personal life, as well as the veil of secrecy that surrounded him. Osama’s identity was also hidden from the families of the Kuwaiti brothers.