Pakistan 'arrests CIA informants in Bin Laden raid'

[Gerald]

Pakistan has arrested five alleged informants for the CIA who helped in the US raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in northern Pakistan in May, US media report.

Among those held by the intelligence agency, the ISI, was the owner of a safe house rented to the CIA to watch Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, the New York Times reported.

The raid strained US-Pakistan ties.

US President Barack Obama said "someone" was protecting Bin Laden.

Pakistan has denied knowing Bin Laden's whereabouts and denied the New York Times report, in particular its claim that an army major was among those arrested.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on a recent visit to Pakistan that there was "absolutely no evidence that anyone at the highest level of the Pakistani government" knew where Bin Laden was.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13773541

Note: 15 June 2011 Last updated at 10:38 GMT