ISI employed architect for Osama compound: report

The architect reportedly was told that a 8220;highly placed VIP8221; was coming to the compound,Ignatius wrote in a column posted on the daily8217;s website.

Though materials taken from the compound after bin Laden was killed by US Special Forces in May last year did not show direct links with top Pakistani officials,US analysts 8220;have found evidence that the al Qaeda chief communicated8221; with Mullah Mohammad Omar,leader of the Afghan Taliban,and with the Lashkar-e-Toiba,Ignatious wrote.

8220;The ISI is thought to monitor both groups closely; how did the messages slip through the net?8221; he questioned.

The columnist said any probe on bin Laden8217;s presence in Pakistan should focus on several issues,including how the al Qaeda chief came to Abbottabad in 2005 and what Pakistani officials knew about his whereabouts.

Current army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was ISI chief at the time,but the 8220;dominant figure was President Pervez Musharraf,the former army chief8221;,the columnist wrote.

The commander of the PMA at Abbottabad from 2006 was Lt Gen Nadeem Taj,who succeeded Kayani as head of the ISI in 2007.

Ignatius referred to former ISI chief Gen Ziauddin Butt8217;s claim that the Abbottabad compound was used by Intelligence Bureau and noted that a report in the Pakistani press in December had quoted Butt as saying that bin Laden8217;s stay at Abbottabad was arranged by Brig Ijaz Shah,head of the Intelligence Bureau during 2004-08,on Musharraf8217;s orders.

He further referred to the rumour that bin Laden was suffering from kidney failure and required dialysis and said this canard was 8220;repeated for years,notably by Musharraf8221;.

CIA analysts were dubious and no dialysis machines were found at Abbottabad.

8220;So was this a deliberate piece of misinformation? And what about bin Laden8217;s claim in November 2001 to Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir that he had nuclear and chemical weapons? Was that a Pakistan-facilitated attempt to promote what bin Laden called his 8216;deterrent8217; against a US reprisal attack?8221; he wrote.

Pakistan8217;s civilian and military leaders have denied reports that they were aware of bin Laden8217;s presence in the country.

A judicial commission is currently investigating the matter.

Experts and US officials have contended that it would not have been possible for bin Laden to live for so long in a garrison town without some support from elements in Pakistan8217;s security establishment.

Ignatius wrote that US officials had said 8220;they don8217;t have any evidence that Kayani or other top Pakistani officials knew of bin Laden8217;s presence before the May 2 raid that killed the al Qaeda leader.

This assessment is based on the review of materials taken from bin Laden8217;s compound,plus the reactions of Kayani and other officials the night of the raid8221;.