WASHINGTON – ‘SOMEBODY’ knew about Osama bin Laden’s Pakistani hideout but there is no proof that Pakistan’s political and military leaders were aware of it, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday.

Mr Gates and the US military’s top officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, warned against cutting off aid to Pakistan over its failure to go after Islamist militant leaders, saying Washington had important interests at stake and that Islamabad had already been ‘humiliated’ by the US raid that killed Osama.

‘My supposition is, somebody knew’ about Osama’s presence in the garrison town of Abbottabad, near Islamabad, Mr Gates told a news conference. read more