Pakistan struck secret deal for U.S. cross border raid on Bin Laden TEN years ago.The U.S. and Pakistan agreed ten years ago to a secret deal allowing American forces to conduct a raid inside the country if they located Osama Bin Laden, reports suggest.
The alleged deal, struck between Pakistani leader General Pervez Musharraf and president George Bush, followed Bin Laden's escape from the mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan in late 2001.
The deal, according to The Guardian, was ratified in 2005 after Musharaf stepped down as leader of Pakistan.
The revelation casts doubt on Pakistani government protests over the May 2 raid in Abbottabad that killed Bin Laden, including angry threats from the country's Prime Minister today.
Pakistani officials have continued to deny any knowledge of the navy SEAL raid, with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani warning that if another raid of its type were conducted: 'Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate with full force.'
Mr Gilani also hit out at the U.S., seemingly blaming American foreign policy for the rise of Al-Qaeda.
He added: '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.'
The deal reportedly allowed the U.S. to conduct a unilateral raid against Bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri or the al-Qaida Number there if located inside Pakistan.
After wards it was agreed both sides would deny knowledge of the deal and allow Pakistan to protest at the apparent illegal incursion into its territory.
Speaking to The Guardian, a former senior U.S. official said: '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.' Read More
The news emerged as Pakistani media unmasked the 'wrong' Islamabad-based CIA chief who allegedly masterminded the killing of Osama bin Laden. The alleged agent's name was published by newspaper The Nation and television news channel ARY over the weekend, citing unnamed sources. Although the name has been dismissed as incorrect, there is suspicion in the U.S. that the leak is an act of revenge by Pakistan's powerful military and intelligence establishment, which was humiliated over the surprise raid on its soil.
