July 3, 2004
Sun Network
London, Jul 03 - Mocking the wild-goose chase for Osama bin Laden, the former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto today suggested that the best place to look for him was in the "basement of the presidency of Pakistan".
In potentially explosive remarks, delivered with a deadpan face but dressed up as a joke, Ms. Bhutto told Sky TV that the word on the grapevine was that the `Generals' knew where the elusive Al-Qaeda mastermind was.
Asked whether she really believed that the Pakistan Government was not telling the truth about his whereabouts, she said: "The joke is that he is in the basement of the presidency of Pakistan.''
Ms. Bhutto said there was a "strong perception that the 'Generals' were 'using' him for their own ends. She said she had no first-hand knowledge but "this is the perception".
In an interview, marked by a bitter attack on the Gen. Musharraf and his Government, Ms. Bhutto questioned Islamabad's commitment to fight terrorism, claiming that there was no Al-Qaeda in Pakistan when she was in power. Portraying herself as a victim of fundamentalist groups, she said her troubles started after she ordered a crackdown on madrassas. Dismissing allegations of corruption against her, she said Gen. Musharraf had hailed the nuclear scientist Abdul Qadir as his 'hero' despite allegations that he had siphoned off "millions of dollars".Ms. Bhutto welcomed the India-Pakistan peace process and called for more confidence-building measures on the nuclear issue.
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/articles/july2004/030704protectingosama.htm