Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf said that he was surprised that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was in Abbottabad.
“It does surprise me. I don’t know the details,” Musharraf told CNN-IBN, after US President Barack Obama announced in Washington that the world’s most wanted terrorist had been killed in a US-led operation.
Musharraf, who was the Pakistan president during the 9/11 strike, said the operation by US forces was a “violation of our sovereignty”.
“America coming to our territory and taking action is a violation of our sovereignty. Handling and execution of the operation (by US forces) is not correct. The Pakistani government should have been kept in the loop,” Musharraf told.
“Foreign troops crossing the border into Pakistan will not be liked by the people of Pakistan. US forces should not have crossed over into Pakistan,” he added.
Responding to a query, Musharraf said: “If there is lack of trust, it is very bad. We are fighting the same enemy.”
He said the operation was a failure of intelligence, “a failure of both Pakistani and US intelligence”.
Operation by US forces is violation of our sovereignty: Musharraf
