Pakistan military spokesman terms NYT report baseless

RAWALPINDI: DG ISPR, Major General Asim Bajwa has dismissed allegations made by journalist Carlotta Gall in her story published in The New York Times on March 19.

According to the DG ISPR, the story was ‘baseless and ridiculous’ adding that there was nothing new or credible and all speculations had already proven false.

The article composed of excerpts from Gall’s upcoming book alleged that the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had established a special desk to handle late Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The New York Times article claimed that the desk “was operated independently, led by an officer who made his own decisions and did not report to a superior. He handled only one person: Bin Laden.”

The article cited a Pakistani official who claimed the US had direct evidence of the then ISI chief Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha being aware of Osama bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad. The Pakistani official told Carlotta Gall that he was “surprised to learn this and the Americans were even more so.”

According to the DG ISPR, Pasha had been an opponent of the Taliban and “an open and cooperative counterpart for the Americans at the ISI.”