Documents collected from Osama bin Laden’s house in Pakistan and the word of an anonymous Pakistani official both contradict the official story from Pakistan and the U.S. that Islamabad was unaware that Osama bin Laden was living in Abbottabad.
The New York Times Magazine reported Wednesday that the chief of Pakistan’s intelligence service, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, “knew of Osama’s whereabouts,” according to its source, and the U.S. has “direct evidence” that Pasha knew where bin Laden was. The explosive claim contradicts a White House statement from 2011 that “there’s no smoking gun” showing Pakistan knew. In addition, documents from bin Laden’s compound contained correspondence between the terrorist and other militant leaders indicating they were protected by Pakistan’s intelligence service. For example, bin Laden traveled in convoys-in plain sight-to visit other terrorist honchos, and according to the report they were “always knowingly waved through any security checkpoints.”
