ISI revealed terror chief Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts to USA, says former director general Asad Durrani

Former Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General (retired) Asad Durrani has gone on record to say that Pakistan had "most likely" revealed Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts to the United States prior to his killing in Abbottabad in May 2011.

The statement has raised questions over the agency's official line that it was 'unaware' of Laden's whereabouts before he was shot by US Navy SEALs, reported the Dawn.

Durrani said that it was "quite possible" that the ISI did not know and "more probable" that they did know about the Al Qaeda chief's location but if they did, the idea was to wait for the "right time" to reveal his location. He added that he believed that Laden's position was revealed to the US in lieu of an agreement on "how to bring the Afghan problem to an end."

On being asked if the Abbottabad compound, where Laden was residing at the time, was an "ISI safehouse," Durrani said that if ISI was sheltering Laden, they were doing a "good job" and when they revealed his location, they did "what was required to be done." The former ISI chief added that the comments were his 'opinion' and he did not know "what had happened."

Pakistan officially denies that the ISI provided safe haven to Laden or that it had any role to play in the May 2011 operation in Abbottabad.