TORONTO: Pakistan may not hand over Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden immediately to the US if he was caught on Pakistani soil, former president Pervez Musharraf said, asserting that the “matter is sensitive” and Islamabad would have to “think about it when such a situation arises”.
Musharraf, who is attending a convention organised by his All-Pakistan Muslim League, was asked the question the question by the CBC network. “Well, that is a very, uh, difficult question to answer. It has great sensitivities,” he responded.
“My policy on handing over people in the past was we will not hand over any Pakistani. We will ask, first of all, the country of origin of the person to take that person over. And if that does not happen – and invariably none of the countries accepted the Al Qaeda people that we apprehended – then we handed them over to anyone and the United States,” he said.
“Now in this case, since the matter is so sensitive, one will have to think about it when such a situation arises,” he said. Asked if he had information on the whereabouts of Osama, Musharraf said it was only once, in 2004, when the ISI and American intelligence forces encircled the Tribal Area where the Al Qaeda chief was reported to be hiding. But the 9/11 mastermind was not found there, Musharraf added.
“There was a time we were getting these photograph releases of Osama bin Laden walking in mountains (in 2004). Having some knowledge of the mountains and the landscape, I thought, maybe he’s in Bajaur Agency,” Musharraf told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
