http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/bin_laden_gets_.html

Bin Laden Gets a Pass from Pakistan
September 05, 2006 5:41 PM

Brian Ross and Gretchen Peters Report:

Osama bin Laden, America's most wanted man, will not face capture in
Pakistan if he agrees to lead a "peaceful life," Pakistani officials
tell ABC News.

The surprising announcement comes as Pakistani army officials
announced they were pulling their troops out of the North Waziristan
region as part of a "peace deal" with the Taliban.

If he is in Pakistan, bin Laden "would not be taken into custody,"
Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan told ABC News in a telephone
interview, "as long as one is being like a peaceful citizen."

Bin Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere in the tribal areas of
Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, but U.S. officials say his
precise location is unknown.

In addition to the pullout of Pakistani troops, the "peace agreement"
between Pakistan and the Taliban also provides for the Pakistani army
to return captured Taliban weapons and prisoners.

"What this means is that the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership have
effectively carved out a sanctuary inside Pakistan," said ABC News
consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counter-terrorism
director.

The agreement was signed on the same day President Bush said the
United States was working with its allies "to deny terrorists the
enclaves they seek to establish in ungoverned areas across the world."

The Pakistani Army had gone into Waziristan, under heavy pressure from
the United States, but faced a series of humiliating defeats at the
hands of the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.

"They're throwing the towel," said Alexis Debat, who is a Senior
Fellow at the Nixon Center and an ABC News consultant. "They're giving
al Qaeda and the Taliban a blank check and saying essentially make
yourselves at home in the tribal areas," Debat said.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/bin_laden_gets_.html

Bin Laden Gets a Pass from Pakistan
September 05, 2006 5:41 PM