This article titled “Osama bin Laden mission agreed in secret 10 years ago by US and Pakistan” was written by Declan Walsh in Islamabad, for The Guardian on Monday 9th May 2011 18.06 UTC

After this story was published, the All Pakistan Muslim League issued a statement denying that there is any truth in the allegation that an agreement had been struck between then military leader of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, and President George Bush, to let American forces conduct operations against bin Laden inside Pakistan.

The US and Pakistan struck a secret deal almost a decade ago permitting a US operation against Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil similar to last week’s raid that killed the al-Qaida leader, the Guardian has learned.

The deal was struck between the military leader General Pervez Musharraf and President George Bush after Bin Laden escaped US forces in the mountains of Tora Bora in late 2001, according to serving and retired Pakistani and US officials.

Under its terms, Pakistan would allow US forces to conduct a unilateral raid inside Pakistan in search of Bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the al-Qaida No3. Afterwards, both sides agreed, Pakistan would vociferously protest the incursion.

“There was an agreement between Bush and Musharraf that if we knew where Osama was, we were going to come and get him,” said a former senior US official with knowledge of counterterrorism operations. “The Pakistanis would put up a hue and cry, but they wouldn’t stop us.”

The deal puts a new complexion on the political storm triggered by Bin Laden’s death in Abbottabad, 35 miles north of Islamabad, where a team of US navy Seals assaulted his safe house in the early hours of 2 May.

Pakistani officials have insisted they knew nothing of the raid, with military and civilian leaders issuing a strong rebuke to the US. If the US conducts another such assault, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani warned parliament on Monday, “Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate with full force.”

Days earlier, Musharraf, now running an opposition party from exile in London, emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the raid, terming it a “violation of the sovereignty of Pakistan”.

But under the terms of the secret deal, while Pakistanis may not have been informed of the assault, they had agreed to it in principle.

A senior Pakistani official said it had been struck under Musharraf and renewed by the army during the “transition to democracy” – a six-month period from February 2008 when Musharraf was still president but a civilian government had been elected.

Referring to the assault on Bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound, the official added: “As far as our American friends are concerned, they have just implemented the agreement.”

The former US official said the Pakistani protests of the past week were the “public face” of the deal. “We knew they would deny this stuff.”

The agreement is consistent with Pakistan’s unspoken policy towards CIA drone strikes in the tribal belt, which was revealed by the WikiLeaks US embassy cables last November. In August 2008, Gilani reportedly told a US official: “I don’t care if they do it, as long as they get the right people. We’ll protest in the National Assembly and then ignore it.”

As drone strikes have escalated in the tribal belt over the past year, senior civilian and military officials issued pro forma denunciations even as it became clear the Pakistani military was co-operating with the covert programme.

The former US official said that impetus for the co-operation, much like the Bin Laden deal, was driven by the US. “It didn’t come from Musharraf’s desire. On the Predators, we made it very clear to them that if they weren’t going to prosecute these targets, we were, and there was nothing they could do to stop us taking unilateral action.

“We told them, over and again: ‘We’ll stop the Predators if you take these targets out yourselves.’”

Despite several attempts to contact his London office, the Guardian has been unable to obtain comment from Musharraf.

Since Bin Laden’s death, Pakistan has come under intense US scrutiny, including accusations that elements within Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence helped hide the al-Qaida leader.

On Sunday, President Barack Obama said Bin Laden must have had “some sort of support network” inside Pakistan.

“We don’t know whether there might have been some people inside of government, outside of government, and that’s something we have to investigate,” Obama said.

Gilani has stood firmly by the ISI, describing it as a “national asset”, and said claims that Pakistan was “in cahoots” with al-Qaida were “disingenuous”.

“Allegations of complicity or incompetence are absurd,” he said. “We didn’t invite Osama bin Laden to Pakistan.”

Gilani said the army had launched an investigation into how Bin Laden managed to hide inside Pakistan. Senior generals will give a briefing on the furore to parliament next Friday.

Gilani paid lip-service to the alliance with America and welcomed a forthcoming visit from the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, but pointedly paid tribute to help from China, whom he described as “a source of inspiration for the people of Pakistan”.

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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf officially resigned from office today on Pakistani television.

Under pressure over impending impeachment charges, President Pervez Musharraf announced that he would resign Monday, ending nearly nine years as one of the United States’ most important allies in the campaign against terrorism.

Speaking on television from his presidential office here at 1 p.m., Mr. Musharraf, dressed in a gray suit and tie, said that after consulting with his aides, “I have decided to resign today.” He said he was putting national interest above “personal bravado.”

“Whether I win or lose the impeachment, the nation will lose,” he said, adding that he was not prepared to put the office of the presidency through the impeachment process.

Mr. Musharraf said the governing coalition, which has pushed for impeachment, had tried to “turn lies into truths.”

“They don’t realize they can succeed against me but the country will undergo irreparable damage,” he said.

In an emotional ending to a speech lasting more than an hour, Mr. Musharraf raised his clenched fists to chest height, and said, “Long live Pakistan!”

Now that Musharraf is gone, let’s just see how much better this new bunch of thugs governs Pakistan. Let’s see if this new bunch will have the courage and the political will to tame the tribal regions and clear out the terrorists.

Pakastani President Pervez Musharraf is set to resign sometime in the next few days, this according to the NY Times. Musharraf has been under increasing pressure in recent weeks as the newly elected governing coalition in Pakistan has been moving towards a vote on his impeachment.

Mr. Musharraf was expected to resign before the governing coalition presented charges for impeachment to the Parliament early next week, said Nisar Ali Khan, a senior official in the Pakistani Muslim League-N, the minority partner in the coalition government.

Similarly, Sheikh Mansoor Ahmed, a senior official of the Pakistan Peoples Party, the major party in the coalition, said Thursday that the president would probably leave in the “next 72 hours.”

Inexorable pressure has built on Mr. Musharraf, a member of the military by profession and often impetuous by nature, to take a way out from the current crisis that would save him from embarrassing disclosures during impeachment procedures and that would protect the nation from a prolonged political agony.

The U.S. was right to back Musharraf in the beginning. He was a big help after 9/11 and the intelligence he provided was critical. Unfortunately, over the last few years he has allowed terrorists to create a new infrastructure in the tribal regions. Rather than take on the militants with the help of the U.S. he continues to try and negotiate with them while people continue to die.

There’s a new party in charge now in Pakistan that was elected by the people. Musharraf has become an obstacle in Pakistan now, and it is time for him to step aside. Although doubtful, maybe Benazir Bhutto’s party which is now in charge will be a better partner in The War on Terror.

From VOA News:

Pakistan, in the midst of an attempt to form a new government, will see the parliament convened within two weeks. President Pervez Musharraf says he will call the national and provincial assemblies together and he is pledging to support the new government that will be formed by lawmakers.

President Pervez Musharraf said Wednesday he had asked for British help to investigate the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, as authorities pushed back crucial elections to Feb. 18, citing the unrest caused by her killing.

In a nationally televised address, Musharraf said the death of the two-time prime minister was a great tragedy for Pakistan. He blamed “terrorists” for Bhutto’s slaying.

“We decided to request a team from Scotland Yard to come,” Musharraf said in a nationally televised address. He added that he sent the request to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, “and he accepted the request.”

This was a very smart move by Musharraf and will go a long way to rebuilding confidence in the Pakistani government and his administration.

If he would have asked the U.S. for help, it would have looked like he was bowing to American pressure which would have further aggravated his situation politically.

Scotland Yard is among the best law enforcement agencies in the world, and will certainly conduct a thorough investigation.

-Chris Jones

It looks like we have a classic cover up on our hands with the Pakistani government. This video was shot from a different angle and it absolutely shows Benazir Bhutto being shot seconds before the suicide bomber detonated himself.

The most likely reason for the cover-up is that Musharraf is embarrassed at what little control he apparently has over security in Pakistan. The fact that both a man with a gun and a man with a bomb strapped to him were able to get within feet of Bhutto and assassinate her is unthinkable.

-Chris Jones

Understandably, many are quick to believe that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was directly responsible for today’s murder of Benazir Bhutto.

It is highly unlikely that Musharraf was responsible, because while he obviously had concerns about her beating him in next month’s elections, her murder is about the worst thing that could happen to him politically.

Bhutto was the leader of Pakistan’s largest political party, and her murder threatens to destabilize the entire country and possibly lead to Musharraf’s overthrow.

The Pakistani intelligence service known as the ISI was most likely responsible for the killing. The ISI operates like a state within a state inside Pakistan, frequently engaging in operations without the knowledge or consent of the Pakistani government itself.

They’re said to be an invisible force in Pakistani politics and countless incidents around the world, it is one of the most significant and secretive intelligence agencies that exist today.

The ISI is also known to be riddled with individuals who are sympathetic to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and in some cases are actual members. It’s entirely possible that the ISI allowed Bhutto to be killed as a way to create the unrest necessary for Musharraf to be overthrown.

The last thing in the world Musharraf wanted to do was create anymore instability in Pakistan or do anything to cast further doubt on the legitimacy of next month’s elections.

Obviously, it would have been in Musharraf’s interest to do whatever was necessary to undermine Bhutto politically, but to have her murdered in front of the world is a disaster both for him and for Pakistan.

President Bush warned Musharraf after the first attempt on Bhutto’s life that he had better make sure she gets adequate protection if he wants to keep seeing U.S. aide money. That is yet another reason it simply wasn’t in Musharraf’s interest to see this happen.

Another possible outcome of Bhutto’s assassination is that it could potentially spark a push back against the radical Islamic movement that has gained considerable strength in recent years.

Benazir Bhutto was certainly a brave woman, who refused to be intimidated by radical Islamic thugs in her country. We will never know if she would have been elected next month, or what it would have meant for Pakistan if she had.

What we do know is that the threat of radical Islam is very real. It has nothing to do with God, but has everything to do with spreading death and destruction to everything it touches.

-Chris Jones

President Pervez Musharraf has officially stepped down as Commander of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and will be sworn in as a civilian leader on Thursday.

During a change of command, Musharraf relinquished his post by handing over his ceremonial baton to his hand-picked successor, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.

Musharraf’s retirement from the military has been a key opposition demand and the move may help defuse a possible boycott of parliamentary elections in January by parties opposed to his rule.

He was re-elected by parliament in October, but his confirmation was held up by the Supreme Court following complaints that a military man could not constitutionally serve as an elected head-of-state.

Musharraf reacted by proclaiming a state of emergency on Nov. 3, sacking the chief justice and other independent judges and replacing them with his appointees. The reconstituted top court then duly approved his election.

Raising the prospect of crucial parliamentary elections being held under de facto martial law, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said the balloting would take place in early January but set no date for lifting an 8-day-old emergency decree.

Sunday’s news conference, marked Musharraf’s first appearance before national and international media since he issued an emergency decree on Nov. 3, suspending the constitution and revoking citizens’ basic freedoms.

During his 90-minute news conference, the Pakistani leader was alternately conciliatory and combative, defending his decision to impose authoritarian measures as a personal sacrifice for the good of the country.

“It was indeed a bitter pill to swallow; it was no doubt the most difficult decision I have ever taken in my life,” said Musharraf, who was clad in a dark blue suit and tie, eschewing his military uniform. “I could have preserved myself, but it would have damaged the nation.”

Musharraf said he had instructed election officials to move as quickly as possible to set a date for the vote, following the dissolution of parliament and regional assemblies in the coming week. Elections are to take place within 60 days of that step, with a caretaker government in place in the meantime.