Former defence minister of Pakistan Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar has denied claiming in an interview with Indian TV channel CNN-IBN that Pakistani leadership knew about Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan.
“Regarding the interview being shown on CNN-IBN, and having been the defence minister, I categorically deny and consider these statements utter nonsense and totally misquoted,” Mukhtar told a local news channel.
Mukhtar added that if Pakistan knew about Osama residing in Pakistan, it would have taken action against him.
“The statements have been taken out of context…for example, if we knew about Osama Bin Laden, then we would have taken action ourselves much earlier,” he said.
Late on Tuesday, CNN-IBN reported that Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership knew about Osama bin Laden’s presence in the country much before the United States navy SEALs killed him in a raid in Abbottabad in 2011, while quoting the then defence minister.
Earlier, CNN-IBN had quoted the former minister as saying, “Former Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, then Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Joint Chief of Staff all knew that Osama was in Pakistan.”
Asked if they had prior information in terms of suspicion of the location of the world’s most wanted man, Mukhtar said, “Some people knew, people in the Pakistan army as well as people in the other forces they also knew it and they were on the lookout for somebody of the stature of Osama bin Laden.”
Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar served as the defence minister in ex-prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s cabinet.