Pak says it has no information on Osama's presence

Islamabad, Apr 7: Pakistan today said it has no inkling about the possible presence of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the country, even as US insists that the world's most wanted terrorist is hiding in "unruly" tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

"The US has made some comments about Osama (being present in Pakistan and) it is their view. But it is not to our knowledge," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Rawalpindi to mark the inauguration of a new power plant.

US President Barack Obama, while unveiling his administration's new strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan last month, had said Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are hiding in Pakistan's "unruly" tribal areas.

Gilani also linked the implementation of Islamic laws in the restive Swat valley to the government's efforts to restore normalcy in the region.

Negotiations in Swat are being conducted by the North West Frontier Province government and implementing the Nizam-e-Adal Regulation or Islamic laws had been "bracketed with the peace process," he said.

"If peace is restored, the President will give approval to the regulation for speedy justice," Gilani said.

Almost the whole of Swat is now controlled by the Taliban, who have set up a parallel system of Qazi or Islamic courts and begun awarding punishment to people. PTI