NEW DELHI: It turns out that Indian agencies had twice warned their U.S. counterparts the presence of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden in a populated and highly urbanized area, not far from Islamabad - once in mid-2007 and again in early 2008 when it specifically mentions the likely presence cantonment area. On both occasions, the Americans, or Indian intelligence was not serious, or maybe they were too busy working on their own inputs on the whereabouts of Osama.
The first time that Indian security agencies gave this information to U.S. authorities was in the middle 2007, shortly after the Taliban Peshawar meeting, attended Osamas No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri. According to information gathered by Indian intelligence agents, the meeting was also attended by top leaders of the Haqqani network and at least two officers of the ISI.
Days after the meeting, Zawahiri visited Islamabad, according to information available with the Indian authorities and this formed the basis of inputs Indias first in the U.S. on the hiding place of Osama. "The urgency with which Zawahiri visited Islamabad or in the area of \u200b\u200bthe environment suggested he was there with a purpose. Zawahiri spoke of visiting Islamabad and also said he believed that Osama can not be hidden in caves, but in a highly urbanized area somewhere near Islamabad. Of course, no one had seen and was a conclusion which was based on the basis of the information we have, "said a top intelligence official involved in the processing of information.
the next six months, agents of India from time to time he got the information about the movement of confidants Osamas in the region. The final entry passes following U.S. agencies and officials from India was in the early 2008, when he made specific mention of his illness and its possible presence in a cantonment area. "This time we mentioned specifically about your presence in a cantonment area. It was because we had definite information that their movement was restricted by their disease and would have been impossible for him to go to a regular hospital. We told the Americans that only in a cantonment area could be addressed by Pakistan's ISI or other benefactors, "said the official.
While the U.S. officially maintained that the Pakistani authorities were not informed about the operation until the helicopter Americans left the airspace of Pakistan, India the security officials to take this with a pinch of salt. "The Americans could have that capability, but we have no reason to rule that the Pakistanis decided to surrender because he was proving to be too much of a liability for them without operating profit," said an official.
This has also raised questions about the whereabouts of Zawahiri, now widely recognized as the supreme leader of al-Qaida. In the past, he has been reported to be hiding somewhere in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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