Osama bin Laden was ultimately killed because he was betrayed by one of his most trusted allies Mullah Abdul Baradar, the co-founder of the Taliban, British news website mirror.co.uk said in a report on Monday, quoting secret papers found at the al Qaeda chief’s compound. The report said Baradar was believed to have told US investigators the location of bin Laden’s hideout. In return, the US promised to withdraw its forces from Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan “once bin Laden had been killed or captured”, said the report.
The website claimed details of the “deal” emerged after a confidential American briefing was found at the compound, and quoted reports from Pakistan as saying Baradar was named in the papers.
Baradar and other “moles” within bin Laden’s organisation were said to be feeding crucial information to US intelligence experts, said the report. Until now it had been believed that bin Laden was caught out when the US intercepted a phone call made by his courier Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, but new reports in Pakistan suggested it was actually Baradar who told the US where he was hiding, the report added.
Baradar was arrested in a joint US-Pakistani operation last year as he visited Karachi. The terror chief, a close ally of one-eyed Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was interrogated in prison before being released last October.
“Baradar is in the frame as he has been in negotiations with the Afghan government and is closely linked to both Mullah Omar and bin Laden. The US has announced that it is scaling back its military operations in Pakistan following the killing of bin Laden. That will fuel speculation about whether this is the start of the pay-off for insurgents who are willing to cut a deal,” the report quoted author and security expert Neil Doyle as saying. “David Cameron has also hinted that bin Laden’s demise may lead to a quicker-than-expected exit of British troops from Afghanistan,” he added.