Osama and his top aides were discussing deal with Pak: Report

Documents seized from the slain al-Qaeda chief's Abbottabad hideout include messages between bin Laden and his top operations chief over the past year which provide the first suggestion that bin Laden considered Pakistan's government amenable to a bargain The New York Times reported quoting unnamed US officials.

The paper said that such a bargain was to ensure the safety of top al-Qaeda leaders.
The officials emphasised that they had found no evidence that such a proposal, which one American official said was in the "discussion phase," was ever raised with Pakistani military or intelligence operatives.

But the fact that bin Laden even considered a truce with Pakistan suggests that he thought the idea might have had some support inside the country's national security establishment.

At the same time, Pakistan could argue that the discussions provided evidence that there was no deal already in place allowing bin Laden to hide in the sprawling compound in Abbottabad, a middle-class town 75 miles (about 120 kms) by road from the Pakistani capital, the daily said.

The CIA is pouring over a huge electronic database that Navy Seal commandos seized during the raid that killed bin Laden this month. (more)