December 3, 2007
AND WE'RE SUPPOSEDTO BE UPSET THAT MUSHY DENIES HIM POWER?:
Musharraf Rival Linked to Bin Laden (Maddy Sauer, 11/30/07, ABC News: The Blotter)
The former prime minister of Pakistan, now one of President Pervez Musharraf's chief political rivals, once received a million-dollar payoff from Osama Bin Laden as a thanks for not cracking down on the militant tribal areas in Pakistan's northwest border province, according to a former member of bin Laden's inner circle.Posted by Orrin Judd at December 3, 2007 11:31 AMFormer Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by Musharraf in a 1999 coup, returned to Pakistan earlier this week after spending seven years in exile living in Saudi Arabia.
When in power, Sharif aggravated the United States by detonating Pakistan's first nuclear weapon and turning a blind eye to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Now a former member of bin Laden's inner circle is saying that Sharif was handsomely rewarded by bin Laden for his policies.
If you knew how frequently bribes of a million dollars or more flow into the hands of Pakistani politicians, you would find this less remarkable.
A friend was once introduced in a candid setting to a Pakistani government minister (in Benazir Bhutto's former government, by the way). He had two aides with him: one handled bribes over $1 million, the other one those under $1 million.
Posted by: ZF at December 3, 2007 6:49 PM