MULTAN: Former prime minister and seasoned leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from south Punjab, Yusuf Raza Gilani, has stated that prior to the CIA operation in Abbottabad, former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice had alerted Pakistan of Osama bin Laden’s presence in the country.
Speaking in an interview with Talk Shock on Geo News, Gilani stated that during her visit to Pakistan, Rice expressed concern about the possibility that Osama was in the country. The prime minister at the time refuted this, claiming it was false information.
As US secretary, Rice made four trips to Pakistan. In December 2008, on her unexpected trip to Islamabad following the bombings in Mumbai, she had a meeting with the PPP leader. Gilani was the prime minister from 2008 to 2012.
Regarding the question of whether the discovery of OBL in Abbottabad came as a surprise, Gilani responded that Osama’s entry into Pakistan was the result of global intelligence failures rather than just our own. In response to a question about whether he believed Rice had provided him with American information, Gilani stated, “If they had any evidence, they should have given it to us.” We would have assisted them since we opposed terrorism, were engaged in a war against it, lost many military personnel and civilian victims, and suffered billion-dollar losses.
Regarding his remarks in the National Assembly that questioned OBL’s legitimacy in Pakistan, Gilani was questioned. He said that since OBL was foreign and not a citizen of Pakistan, Pakistan’s goal was to shut down the foreign media. Did the ISI not tell him the whole story about OBL, or did they give him the whole picture? Gilani replied, “I used to get briefings and they were very clear,” in response to this.
