By Daniel Tencer
Published: September 9, 2009

Nawaz Sharif, a two-time former prime minister of Pakistan and current head of one of the country’s major political parties, has met with Osama bin Laden on numerous occasions, and it was in fact the al Qaeda leader who developed the relationship between Sharif and the Saudi royal family, says a former Pakistani intelligence official.

Full article on Raw Story

More at The Times of India here and here.

Osama introduced Nawaz Sharif to Saudi royals: ex-ISI officer

PTI 6 September 2009, 07:15pm IST

LAHORE: Osama bin Laden introduced Nawaz Sharif to the Saudi royal family in the late 1980s and during a meeting the former Premier had asked the Al Qaida chief to provide employment to Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia, former ISI officer Khalid Khwaja claimed on Sunday.

Khwaja, who was close to Sharif in the late 1980s and early1990s, made the claim in an interview.

"During his first visit to Saudi Arabia as Chief Minister of Punjab in the late 1980s, no one from the royal family had given Sharif importance," he said.

"Thereafter, on Sharif's request, Osama bin Laden introduced him to the royal family and that helped him in getting closer to the Saudis," said Khwaja, who was a squadron leader in the Pakistan Air Force before joining the ISI in 1985.

"A close aide of Sharif family and I arranged at least five meetings between Sharif and bin Laden in Saudi Arabia.