Osama Bin Laden died natural death, claims ex-ISI chief

Islamabad, June 29: Al Qaeda Chief Osama bin Laden died a "natural death" in 2005 and not in the US Navy Seals raid in the Abbottabad mansion, claims former Pakistan Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Lt. Gen. (retd) Hameed Gul.

"In my opinion Osama was not there (Abbottabad). He died a natural death in 2005," Hameed Gul told Geo News programme "Jirga" on Monday.

The former ISI chief added that the truth would come out about the May 2, 2011 Abbottabad raid.

The statement came fours years after the US reported that its Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden in a raid on his compound in the garrison city of Abbottabad in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

The US military said that after the killing, bin Laden's body was flown to Afghanistan for identification and then buried in the sea within 24 hours.

Earlier, American journalist Seymour Hersh had said that Pakistan helped Washington in locating Osama Bin Laden but the operation "Neptune Spear" was conducted in a manner that cast doubts over Pakistan's intentions.

He revealed that Osama Bin Laden's secret hideout was exposed by an ex-intelligence official of Pakistan who was now living in Washington and worked for the CIA as a consultant.

IANS