Pakistan, our ally

Bin Laden seems to have found a safe haven. (Updated/corrected by ABC, see bottom.)

Osama bin Laden, America's most wanted man, will not face capture in Pakistan if he agrees to lead a "peaceful life," Pakistani officials tell ABC News.

The surprising announcement comes as Pakistani army officials announced they were pulling their troops out of the North Waziristan region as part of a "peace deal" with the Taliban.

If he is in Pakistan, bin Laden "would not be taken into custody," Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan told ABC News in a telephone interview, "as long as one is being like a peaceful citizen."

So, maybe it's time to run through the list on Pakistan again.

1. A long history of supporting terrorism in the Taleban, Al Qaeda, and the Kashmiri independence groups.

2. Elements of the Pakistani military still actively supply money and support to those groups today.

3. 40+ nuclear weapons (with a history of supplying weapons to terror groups.)

4. Confirmed nuclear proliferation with the individual and organization responsible protected from international questioning.

5. Harboring the top terrorists in the world.

(Apparently this offer is part of the "peace offer" with the western militants first reported by Knight Ridder on Saturday.)

UPDATE: Unsurprisingly, there's been a denial from the Pakistani government. ABC has republished that section of the interview. (Huge thanks to anonymous.) I do see the possible confusion in the discussion between Bin Laden and "one." I assume the interview was done in English.

But the list above still stands. (Bad on ABC for deleting the original link by the way. At the very least, put a retraction or redirect to the current article in its place.)

Also, Interesting that these statements came the day before Musharraf went to Afghanistan to discuss cross border issues. And, I would guess we can rule out a Bin Laden arrest as the October surprise.