Former president Pervez Musharraf insisted Thursday that Pakistan did not provide assistance to Osama bin Laden as he renewed criticism of the US raid that killed the world's most wanted man.
On a visit to Washington, Musharraf staunchly defended Pakistan's military and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) service which have long come under US suspicion over their relationships with Islamic militants.
"I confidently and surely say that it was not complicity because I am very aware of one thing - that I didn't know, whether one believes it or not," said Musharraf, who lives in self-imposed exile in London.
"Is it possible that the army and the ISI were hiding from me? No 100 times - not at all, not possible. Because I am from the army - they are my people," he said at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Musharraf described bin Laden's hideout as "a normal, slightly on the large side, house" and said it would not have naturally attracted suspicion.
"There are hundreds of houses available all over. If he was to be put there, wouldn't there be some guards and some security that he doesn't leave the place," Musharraf said.
Musharraf said that the May 2 raid worsened Pakistani images of the United States as people saw it as a "violation of our sovereignty."
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