Files retrieved from Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's Abbotabad compound have revealed that Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif sought to strike a peace deal with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) through Al Qaeda so that they do not conduct operations inside Punjab.
One of the documents was a letter written by Atiyah Abd al Rahman (Mahmud), who was then the general manager of Al Qaeda, to Osama bin Laden (identified as Sheikh Abu Abdallah) in July 2010. It informed Laden that Sharif wanted to cut a deal with the TTP, whose leadership was close to Bin Laden. It said, the government "was ready to reestablish normal relations as long as [the Pakistani Taliban] do not conduct operations in Punjab," reported The Express Tribune
Terror attacks elsewhere in Pakistan were apparently acceptable under the terms of the alleged proposal.
The letters also exposed the complex nexus between Al Qaeda and the ISI.
Al Qaeda's negotiating tactic was simple. They wanted Pakistani to leave them alone or face more terror attacks, the report said. Rahman's letter revealed that Al Qaeda relied on Haqqani Network leader, Siraj Haqqani, to convey their message as the Haqqani network was backed by the military and intelligence establishment.
The letter also made references to several ISI leaders who negotiated with Al Qaeda at the time.
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While referring to a meeting that took place in the 1980s in one of the letters, Rahman told Laden that the meeting was "surprisingly" attended by Hamid Gul, who headed the ISI at the time. Rahman quoted him as saying, "Be patient with us for a little bit. If we can convince the Americans, then we have no objection to negotiating with you and sitting with you."
The files were revealed in terror convict Abid Naseer's trial by a Brooklyn jury earlier this month.
