Former Pakistani leader General Pervez Musharraf and US President George Bush had struck a secret deal ten years ago, allowing American forces to conduct a raid inside Pakistan if they located Osama bin Laden, reports have said.
The deal was reportedly made after bin Laden escaped from the mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan in late 2001, and ratified in 2005 after Musharaf stepped down as the leader of Pakistan.
The Daily Mail quoted a Guardian report in which a former senior U.S. official gave out the details of the deal.
"There was an agreement between Bush and Musharraf that if we knew where Osama was, we were going to come and get him. The Pakistanis would put up a hue and cry, but they wouldn't stop us," he said.
A senior Pakistani official confirmed claims of the American source saying: "As far as our American friends are concerned, they have just implemented the agreement."
The new revelations are in stark contrast to the government's protests against Washington's uninformed raid on bin Laden's Abbottabad compound, including recent threats from the country's Prime Minister.
"We'll take appropriate action if any further violation takes place. We will defend our air space by any means we have. We cannot be blamed for flawed policies and blunders of others. Pakistan is not the birthplace of Al Qaeda. We did not invite Osama bin Laden to Pakistan or even to Afghanistan," Gilani had said.
The Pakistani source, however, said that Pakistani government's protests about the attack were the 'public face' of the deal, adding: "We knew they would deny this stuff." (ANI)
