Pak knew about bin Laden, provided sanctuary to Mullah Omar: Afghan official

Washington: Pakistan knew about Osama bin Laden’s hideout and provided sanctuary to elusive one-eyed Taliban chief Mullah Omar, Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said on Tuesday as he criticised the country for using the terror outfit as an “asset”. Abdullah alleged that Pakistani authorities fooled the world about Omar and peace talks with the Taliban as he warned Pakistan that using terrorism as a means of achieving foreign policy objective does not work. “In Pakistan authorities will say that these people represent Mullah Omar. We know how to get message to Mullah Omar and how to give the message, which was a sham altogether. [caption id=“attachment_2394638” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mullah Omar. Reuters[/caption] “Because he was dead and because, later on, they had been cheated against and also some members of Taliban and senior leaders in Taliban banks, in Taliban leadership, they thought that they were cheated. That’s why there is division now amongst the Taliban leadership,” he told PBS news. When asked if the Pakistanis and the leadership of Pakistan knew that Osama bin Laden was there inside their country, he said: “Osama bin Laden, absolutely, yes.” “He was in the military containment, near their military containment in Abottabad…(if Pakistan) doesn’t know about him having a residence near a military containment, that poses even a bigger question,” he said. “From one side he (Gen Musharraf) was acting in the front line of the war against terror. From the other side, he was the one providing sanctuary to Mullah Omar,” he said. “They didn’t believe that Afghanistan would be able to stand on its own feet. Secondly, the cruel policy there has been, unfortunately, to use terrorism and extremism as a means of achieving foreign policy objectives. And in Taliban they consider that an asset rather than a liability. That was also an important factor,” Abdullah added. Abdullah warned Pakistan that using terrorism as a means of achieving foreign policy objective has not worked for any state. “If there is one lesson from Afghanistan or from the misadventures of the terrorist groups elsewhere, that using terrorism as a means of achieving foreign policy objective doesn’t work. It has not worked for any state. “The reason that I am so sure about it, it is a lesson from the history that strengthened these own terrorist groups to have their own agendas and they will turn against those estates and groups which Pakistan had created now are fighting against Pakistan. Those were created for other purposes. But the minute they find the opportunity they turn against the states,” the top Afghan leader said. He asserted that it is important for states to not allow these extremist radical non-state actors to use the opportunities for “short-term gains” which look like gains but anybody in that position is in a losing position. PTI