Former Pakistan ambassador to the US Abida Hussain has claimed that Osama Bin Laden had supported and funded Nawaz Sharif during his government in the 1990s.

Hussain was asked whether claims that Nawaz Sharif was funded by Laden are true. “Osama…he supported Nawaz Sharif at one point. This is a complicated story.”

She then spoke about Pakistan’s nuclear programme, and said Nawaz Sharif was notaware of the developments, and that there was a trust deficit between presidentGhulam Ishaq Khan and him.

She said she was made ambassador by the president and not Nawaz Sharif, and used tobe in contact with the president regarding her job. Nawaz Sharf did not haveobjections to that. The president told her to keep the US government “busy” for18 months because that was the time required for the nuclear programme tocomplete.

Hussain said that the nuclear programme was completed in 1992 and not 1983. Pakistanwas under a lot of pressure from US envoys and lawmakers to roll back theprogramme, she said.