Pervez Musharraf denies ?Osama deal? with US

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday rubbished reports of giving the U.S. permission to conduct an unilateral operation to hunt and kill al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, calling them ?baseless?.

A report in the British daily The Guardian had claimed that Musharraf had struck a deal with former American President George W Bush to let the U.S. storm into the south Asian nation and apprehend bin Laden, who was killed in such an operation on May 2.

U.S. commandos covertly infiltrated bin Laden’s high security compound in Pakistan’s Abbottabad and killed the international terrorist, taking away his body and alerting the Pakistanis only after leaving the country’s airspace.

Coming close on the heels of Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani taking potshots at the U.S for the unilateral operation that ?violated Pakistan?s sovereignty?, Guardian’s report spoke of a deal struck between the two countries about ten years ago.

The deal supposedly discussed right after bin Laden escaped American forces in Tora Bora permitted an operation similar to the one carried out a week ago if the U.S. knew the location of the al Qaeda chief.

The deal also apparently included provisions of Pakistan raising an alarm and loud protests but eventually letting the issue cool down.

?There was an agreement between Bush and Musharraf that if we knew where Osama was, we were going to come and get him. The Pakistanis would put up a hue and cry, but they wouldn’t stop us,? a former senior U.S. official with knowledge of counterterrorism operations was quoted as saying.

The report also punched holes in Prime Minister Gillani?s claims in the Pakistani parliament on Monday where he slammed the U.S. operation, reminding of the origins of al Qaeda and playing the China card.

According to a secret U.S. diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks in August 2008, Gilani had reportedly told an American official that ?he doesn’t really care if the US carries out an operation in Pakistan. They will protest in Parliament and then ignore it?.

However, replying to the report through his Facebook page on Tuesday, Musharraf said, ?The accusation of my having allowed intrusion into Pakistan by US forces chasing Osama bin Laden is absolutely baseless.?

?Never has this subject even been discussed between myself and President Bush leave aside allowing such freedom of action that would violate our sovereignty,? he added.