How much did Pakistan’s Government Know About the Abbotabad Operation?

MAY 7, 2011











A debate has been raging about to what extent the Pakistan government and armed forces were aware of the assassination mission of US Navy SEALS in Abbotabad.

Some have said they are damned if they knew, and damned if they did not.

If they did not know, it is because the United States doesn’t trust them or deem them competent to retain secret information.

If they did know, then they have been complicit in a mission where a hostile foreign power, which has a serial record of violating Pakistan’s security and sovereignty for years now, has committed its most brazen violation to date.

Sadly, there are many reasons why the latter view is true, and that the Pakistani regime was complicit in an act which has exposed the state dangerously.

On April 25th 2011, an an extraordinary meeting was held between ISAF Commander General Petraeus and General Kayani at an unusual location i.e. Chaklala Airbase.

The same night General Petraeus was reportedly in a teleconference session with a White House meeting chaired by President Barack Obama.

The following day, April 26th, Pakistan’s top military coordination body — Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee — held its quarterly session, which was attended amongst others by ISI Chief General Shuja Pasha, who in normal circumstances is not a regular member of the body. The meeting was unscheduled.

Obama hinted at this meeting when he announced the death of Osama: “And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice.”

So it seems overwhelmingly likely that these meetings were in the run up to the operation.

Morever, Bin Laden was residing in Bilal Town in Abbotabad, situated in an army cantonment area, close proximity to the Pakistani Military Academy, surrounded by military checkpoints. And several other important Al Qaeda operatives such as Abu Faraj al-Libbi, Khalid Shiekh Mohammed, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani were apprehended in similar localities i.e. in wealthy neighbourhoods, close to military establishments or in secure surroundings; and these high value al-Qaida figures were handed over to the US.

Whilst denying any formal involvement in the operation, Zardari did admit that the bilateral cooperation facilitated the assassination. Zardari stated in the Washington Post: “Although the events of Sunday were not a joint operation, a decade of cooperation and partnership between the United States and Pakistan led up to the elimination of Osama bin Laden as a continuing threat to the civilized world.”

This slavish cooperation was confirmed by Obama’s in a statement reported later. He did not publicise the Pakistani involvement in the assassination but acknowledged that Pakistani cooperation is what helped to know the whereabouts of Bin Laden “But it’s important to note that our counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to Bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding,”

At the same time, the American and Western politicians have allowed the name of Pakistan to be blackened in the Western media as a pariah state – in order to maximise the pressure on Pakistan to do America’s bidding.

Former CIA deputy chief John McLaughlin said this could work to U.S. advantage. “It opens up some opportunities for us with Pakistan,” says former deputy CIA chief. “They now should feel under some great pressure to be cooperative with us on the remaining issues,” like going after the Taliban elsewhere in the country. “It’s called leverage.”

It seems apparent that the Pakistani regime is mired to its up to his ears in the assassination, whilst not not necessarily being informed of the zero hour set by the United States for the assassination. The role of the Pakistani regime was that of the spy, who provides the essential information to his master to kill the victim and to determine the zero hour. Whether the spy is informed of the zero hour or not is immaterial for the spy is already cheap enough

And the United States, desperate for the survival of this regime worked hard to protect it from the wrath of public opinion.

This regime must be replaced with a sincere leadership, willing to stand for Islam and the people of Pakistan, throwing off slavery to America. This is the only hope for dignity and security in the future.

Source: www.hizb.org.uk