Former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf has said that neither CIA nor Afghan intelligence agencies had provided any solid evidence about Osama bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan to him during his tenure. In an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today, he strongly rebutted the statement of former Afghan intelligence chief that he had given tip of bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan in 2005-06.
“Amarullah Saleh is anti-Pakistan,” said Musharraf, adding that no one from the US or Afghanistan had passed any solid evidence of bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan in 2005-06. He said he had received a picture from CIA suggesting bin Laden traveling from Bajaur to Chitral in a jeep “but when our intelligence agencies probed, they found that the jeep belonged to Afghanistan and the man who was being suspected as bin Laden by the CIA was his look alike.”
Terming bin Laden’s killing ‘good news’, Musharraf assailed the US for violating Pakistan’s sovereignty saying, “The operation should have been conducted by Pakistani forces.” Rubbishing charges of complicity against Pakistan’s security agencies in Osama’s case, Musharraf said Pakistan had handed over dozens of high value targets to the US which was a solid proof of its conviction in the war against terror.
On the PPP-PML-Q alliance, the former president said that it was a classic example of the politics of opportunism. “This alliance is aimed at short term gains…..and this alliance lacks legs to stand long.” When asked whether he was satisfied with the progress made by the APML, Musharraf said: “We are in the process of organizing a new party. It is not an easy task; however, in very brief period of time we have done fairly well. In Pakistan, we have already announced a Central Organizing committee of Chief Coordinator and a Central Joint Committee for Pakistan have been assigned the task to organize the party at the grass level and we will announce our Zonal and District set ups soon. APML has already formed its chapters in UK, Europe, USA, Canada and rest of the world which to me is a remarkable achievement.”
He said he had full faith in himself and his team and “I firmly believe that APML has the capacity to emerge as a force in Pakistani politics.” He said the present political leadership in Pakistan had failed to deliver. “I had the option of staying away from politics and have sufficient means to live a luxury life outside Pakistan. But I have opted for risks and this time this risk is for my country and it is worth taking. I am confident that Pakistanis will support my quest for a peaceful progressive and modern Pakistan,” he added.
To another question, Musharraf said the PPP and the PML-N were working together because they wanted to keep the status quo in Pakistan.
CIA, Afghans never provided any evidence: Musharraf
