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| Did Musharraf know Osama's hiding place? |
| Press Trust of India / Islamabad Feb 15, 2012, 15:40 IST |
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 Former president Pervez Musharraf knew that Osama bin Laden was hiding in the garrison town of Abbottabad and the Pakistani intelligence itself had made the safe house that sheltered him, a former ISI chief has alleged, according to a media report.
Former CIA official Bruce Riedel quoted ex-ISI chief Gen (retired) Ziauddin Khwaja alias Ziauddin Butt, as saying that Musharraf "knew bin Laden was in Abbottabad".
In an article for The Daily Beast website, Riedel further quoted Butt as saying that bin Laden's safe house in Abbottabad "was made to order" by Brig Ijaz Shah, a former head of the Intelligence Bureau
"Ziauddin says Ijaz Shah was responsible for setting up bin Laden in Abbottabad, ensuring his safety and keeping him hidden from the outside. And Ziauddin says Musharraf knew all about it," Riedel wrote in the article.
However, Butt told the Geo News channel today that he had been misquoted in the article. He did not give details.
US Special Forces killed the al Qaeda chief in a pre-dawn raid on a compound in Abbottabad, located a short distance from the elite Pakistan Military Academy, in May last year.
Since then, American officials have questioned whether elements in Pakistan's security establishment were aware of bin Laden's presence in the country.
Bin Laden reportedly lived in the walled compound in Abbottabad for five years.
Riedel referred to US suspicions in his article, writing: "Ever since the Navy SEALs found Osama bin Laden hiding in Abbottabad, Pakistan, less than a mile from the country's national military academy, the question haunting American relations with Pakistan has been: who knew he was there?"
Butt was made head of the ISI by former premier Nawaz Sharif and served in the post during 1997-99.
He was the first head of the army's Strategic Plans Division, which controls the nuclear arsenal.
Sharif promoted Butt to the post of army chief in October 1999 when he tried to fire Musharraf. Musharraf then launched a coup that deposed Sharif's government.
Butt spent two years in solitary confinement, was discharged from the army and had his property confiscated.
Riedel noted that he thus had "a motive to speak harshly about Musharraf".
Brig (retired) Ijaz Shah, a former ISI bureau head in Lahore, served as chief of the Intelligence Bureau when former premier Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan from self-exile in 2007.
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