In a secret deal sealed 10 years ago, Pakistan agreed to allow the United States to conduct a unilateral operation against Osama bin Laden with the understanding that Pakistan would protest vociferously afterward, The Guardian reports. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? OF COURSE THEY WILL PROTEST IT AFTERWARDS....
The British newspaper, quoting serving and retired Pakistani and U.S. officials, says the deal was struck between President Bush and Pakistani military leader Gen. Pervez Musharraf. It followed bin Laden's escape from the Afghan mountains of Tora Bora in late 2001 into Pakistan.
Here's how the newspaper describes the agreement:
Under its terms, Pakistan would allow U.S. forces to conduct a unilateral raid inside Pakistan in search of bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the al-Qaeda No3. Afterwards, both sides agreed, Pakistan would vociferously protest the incursion.
The newspaper quotes a senior Pakistani official as saying the deal was renewed by the army during the "transition to democracy" – a six-month period when Musharraf was still president but a civilian government had been elected.
Regarding the raid last week on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, The Guardian quotes the official as saying, "As far as our American friends are concerned, they have just implemented the agreement."
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