Taliban 'rejected offer to fly bin Laden to secret destination'
The Taliban previously rejected an offer from Pakistan to fly Osama bin Laden to a secret destination of his choice, it has been reported.
A former Pakistan foreign minister says officials offered to charter a plane three years ago so bin Laden could voluntarily leave Afghanistan.
Sartaj Aziz says he asked the Taliban to urge bin Laden to leave after the US embassy bombings, but the offer was rejected.
Aziz, foreign minister in the Nawaz Sharif Government, told Pakistan daily The News the offer was made after the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
He said the offer was to transport bin Laden to a destination of his choice.
"I personally spoke to the Taliban supreme leader Mulla Muhammad Omar several times on behalf of the Pakistan Government," he said.
"I told them to ask bin Laden, if he was a real well wisher of the Afghan people, to voluntarily leave Afghanistan and save the Afghan people from further hardship."
