ISLAMABAD - U.S. and Pakistani officials admitted Wednesday that Pakistan has arrested several of its own citizens who helped the CIA spy on the house where Osama bin Laden lived.
Among those arrested may be the occupant of a large house about 100 yards behind the bin Laden compound, in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The home's watchtowers would have provided a clear view of the walled compound where bin Laden is suspected of having lived for up to five years.
The nameplate outside the home identified the resident as Major Amir Aziz, but the plate gave no indication of whether he was serving or retired. The Pakistan military, in a statement Wednesday, said no serving officer had been arrested.
The arrests highlight the deep distrust that continues to plague relations between Washington and Islamabad, two anti-terror allies. Pakistan fears that the CIA has set up its own independent spy network in the country, a tactic apparently confirmed by the operation to eliminate bin Laden.
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The U.S. is pressing Pakistan to urgently mount joint operations to strike at the remainder of al-Qaida in Pakistan, as the organization reels from the loss of its leader and the disclosure of a huge amount of data on its workings, gathered from the bin Laden compound.
But the Pakistani military, which controls security policy in a country with a weak civilian government, is still angry at the perceived humiliation it suffered as a result of the unilateral May 2 U.S. special forces raid into the country, which was undetected by Pakistan's air defense network, even though Abbottabad is a military town and home to Pakistan's prestigious national military academy.
Those arrested in Abbottabad had monitored the bin Laden house, noting number plates of vehicles coming and going, and "patterns of life" at the compound, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials. They include the owner of a safe house rented to CIA operatives to spy on the bin Laden home.
A Pakistani official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that the detentions included a former army medical corps doctor. The army medical corps is headquartered in Abbottabad.
The official didn't provide a name for the doctor, but last month, a McClatchy reporter located a house around 100 yards behind the bin Laden compound with two watchtowers, an usual feature. With no buildings between the house and the bin Laden compound, the watchtowers would have provided a commanding view of the al-Qaida leader's hiding place.
The occupants refused to come to the gate of the house, but the nameplate identified the occupant as Major Aziz, and neighbors said at the time that he was a doctor. The following day, when the McClatchy reporter returned, the nameplate had been removed.
According to the Pakistani official, those arrested may not have been aware that they were working for the CIA. The official said they were hired by Pakistanis to snoop on unnamed terrorists.
"Wouldn't any country detain people for working for a foreign spy service?" said the Pakistani official.
