| Cia paid pakistan bounty for alqaida suspects { September 26 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20476452-663,00.htmlhttp://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20476452-663,00.html
Terror bounty paid by CIA September 26, 2006 12:00am
THE CIA paid Pakistan millions of dollars for handing over to the US more than 350 suspected al-Qaida terrorists, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has said.
The claims come in the military ruler's new memoir, In the Line of Fire. General Musharraf does not reveal how much Pakistan was paid for the 369 al-Qaida suspects he ordered should be handed over, The Times said. But such payments are banned by the US government.
A US Department of Justice official was quoted as saying: "We didn't know about this. It should not happen. These bounty payments are for private individuals who help to trace terrorists on the FBI's most wanted list, not foreign governments."
Last week, General Musharraf said that former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage had threatened to bomb Pakistan if it did not back the US in the so-called "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
He also writes that he was so angered by "ludicrous" US demands that he "war-gamed" them "as an adversary".
"There would be a violent and angry reaction if we didn't support the United States," a book excerpt reads.
"The question was: if we do not join them, can we confront them and withstand the onslaught? The answer was no."
He said that two days after the attacks, US ambassador Wendy Chamberlain made demands including "blanket overflight and landing rights" and "use of Pakistan's naval ports, air bases, and strategic locations on borders".
He said Pakistan gave no "blanket permission".
The military leader says he decided to make the revelations to counter claims that Pakistan had not done enough to combat al-Qaida.
- AFP
General Musharraf, who is in New York, yesterday rejected rumours of a coup against him.
"These reports are absolute nonsense, and thank God we are not a banana republic," he was quoted as saying. "We are a normal, stable country."
Rumours swept through Pakistan after power failed across large areas of the country, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi and the eastern city of Lahore, for several hours.
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