Bin Laden was a US prisoner before being killed: Iran

Tehran, May 16:  Sheikh Bin Laden was a US prisoner before being killed: Iran TEHRAN: Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was a prisoner in US custody for "sometime" before he was killed by the American military, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday,reports AFP.

"I have exact information that bin Laden was held by the American military for sometime... until the day they killed him he was a prisoner held by them," the president said in a live interview on Iranian state television.

"Please pay attention. This is important. He was held by them for sometime. They made him sick and while he was sick they killed him," Ahmadinejad added.

He accused US President Barack Obama for announcing the Al-Qaeda leader's death for "political gain."

"What the US president has done is for domestic political gain. In other words, they killed him for Mr Obama's election and now they are seeking to replace him with someone else," Ahmadinejad said without elaborating.

Bin Laden was shot dead on May 2 in a US commando raid on a heavily fortified compound near Islamabad, Pakistan.

On May 4, Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi too had cast doubt on bin Laden's death, saying there were "ambiguities" over the way he was killed.

The Americans "said they threw his body in the sea. Why did they not allowed an independent expert to examine the body to say if it was bin Laden or not?" Vahidi said.

   

Secret deal with US not acceptable: Nisar Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: May 17: The government will have to finish inking secret deals with US. No behind-the-curtain agreements will be acceptable from now and onwards, these were the warning statements made by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the leader of opposition in National Assembly (NA) and the leader of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Geo News reported.

“No Pak-US joint operation against a high-value target in Pakistan will be allowed in future and a judicial commission to probe into US raid on a compound in Abbottabad on May 2 be immediately formed, ” Nisar demanded.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was addressing a press conference here at the Punjab House. He said that he came to know though media reports that the federal government and US administration have agreed upon a new code of conduct.(Writer-South Asis)

Osama bin Laden's Jerusalem home for sale

Srinagar, 16 May:  While real-estate agents say that location is everything in considering buying a home, sometimes an infamous former owner can also be a big selling point, reports Xinhua news agency.

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Especially when it's al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's handsome digs in northern Jerusalem's Palestinian Shuafat neighborhood.

"This is a historic house, and to this day I have not talked about it with anybody," current owner Mu'in Khoury told the Yediot Ahronot Hebrew daily on Sunday.

"Bin-Laden's father came from Saudi Arabia in the 1940s, bought the house, and lived in it from time to time," Khoury said, adding that "Osama also spent time there on several occasions in the 1960s."

Since then, however, the property has changed hands many times, and came to be Israeli state property as a result of the 1967 War, and served as the Spanish consul's office.

Khoury is the latest in the line of owners of the site, which has become a well-known neighborhood landmark since the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

"The house is not for sale to anyone. But if Osama makes me an offer, I will be willing to consider it," Khoury said, according to the report.

Pakistan leans on China in face of US slams

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New Delhi, May 16: First impressions often tend to be lasting ones. There were many first impressions I gathered during my recent first visit to Pakistan. At the invitation of Pakistan's Ministry of Information, for eight days, I, along with eight other journalists, travelled to several cities, reports Shastri Ramachandaran (Global Times).

Of the four themes that figured through the program, predictably, Pakistan's war against terrorism and India-Pakistan relations topped the agenda. But more off than on the record was Pakistan's troubled ties with the US, worsening by the day. On the margins, outside the frame of formal interaction, a topic of much interest was Sino-Pak relations.

In Lahore, the agreements signed during Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif's "successful" five-day visit to China from April 18 made headlines, but was routine nevertheless.

So, when Foreign Ministry officials and others spoke of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's visit to China from May 17, no eyebrows went up. After all, it was part of the year-long celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of Sino-Pak ties.

Few expected that, within a matter of days China-Pakistan relations would evoke great interest and greater speculation worldwide.

When the US struck at Bin Laden, the world erupted in jubilant applause and Pakistan came under severe fire. Pakistan was pilloried as the fount of global terrorism.

China alone supported Pakistan and stood by it in the face of global opposition. China and Pakistan had completed a strategic dialogue on May 13 to deepen cooperation on counter-terrorism. True to its stance, in the aftermath of Bin Laden's killing, China reaffirmed its cooperation with Pakistan to combat terrorism. China focused on stability in Pakistan, defended Pakistan's record of fighting terrorism and criticized the Obama administration for violating Pakistan's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.

China drew the world's attention to Pakistan's sacrifices and sufferings in combating terrorism. Pakistan could not ask for more at a time when it feels besieged, and relations with the US have hit a new nadir.

"Pakistan is again in trouble, in a difficult situation. What it urgently requires is allies' support. And, among allies, Chinese support is critical to its lifeline," observed Amna Yusaf Khokhar, a research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS) in Islamabad.

"Instead of raising fingers at the time-tested friend's credibility, it showed support and, rather, criticized the Obama administration," she wrote in her role as editor of Asia Despatch.

More seasoned experts, too, adopted a similar stance to emphasize that China is much valued by Pakistan, and not only during a crisis.

Riaz Hussain Khokhar, former foreign secretary who has served as ambassador to China and High Commissioner to India, spoke strongly on these issues. "Pakistan and China never played games with each other. China does not really need Pakistan, but because of our sincerity, China has remained a strong friend," Khokhar told me.

Similar admiring views were expressed by others, including Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, director-general of ISS and a former ambassador toChina. Qazi, who served as Pakistan's High Commissioner to India, was also the UN Secretary-General's special envoy to Iraq and, later, Sudan.

What they don't say explicitly is more important: That Pakistan and China, even before Bin Laden's killing, but in preparation for the US drawdown in Afghanistan, have been striving to strengthen strategic cooperation in the region.

An expert at the ISS, speaking anonymously, said that Pakistan and China are joining hands to shape the region's security with Afghanistan at its center.

"The situation in Afghanistan calls for new alliances, new strategies." With US forces pulling out and Pakistan crucial for stabilizing the situation, China might emerge in a potent, new role, speculated a foreign affairs commentator.

As Qazi said, in a different context, "Every country has leverage," and the US should not take Pakistan for granted.

Gilani's four-day trip to China has assumed extraordinary significance amidst talk of a new strategic partnership with far-reaching implications, especially for the US but also for India, South Asia and the West.

In the history of China-Pakistan relations, rarely has a Pakistani prime minister's visit to Beijing attracted so much attention.

The author is a journalist based in New Delhi. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn