'Osama funded Sharif's poll campaign in 1990'

Islamabad: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif received money from al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden to contest elections against Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party in 1990, a new book has claimed.

The book titled ‘Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-i-Aman' said even though Osama (right) funded Sharif (above) heavily, the latter backtracked from all his promises after coming into power. File Pics/AFP

The book titled ‘Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-i-Aman' by Shamama Khalid, the wife of former ISI operative Khalid Khawaja, claims that Sharif's pledge of introducing an Islamic system attracted Khawaja as well as Osama.

"Chief of PML-N Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif received funding from Osama Bin Laden, founder of Al-Qaeda, to contest elections against Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party (PPP) after the end of Zia regime," the book states.

But even though Osama funded Sharif heavily, the latter backtracked from all his promises after coming into power.

The book also carries a note from former Inter-Services Intelligence director general, retired Lt-Gen Hamid Gul, which claims that Khawaja was very close to Sharif for some time. According to the book, Palestinian Sunni Abdullah Azzam, who is also known as the ‘father of global jihad' and Osama's mentor, introduced Khawaja to the Al Qaeda head honcho.

The book claims that Khawaja was killed by a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban while he was on a peace mission in the restive tribal areas. Osama was killed in a midnight raid by the US Navy SEALs in Pakistan's garrison town of Abbottabad in 2011.