If We Capture Bin Laden, We Would Return Him To US: Pak

Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Mahmud Ali Durrani has denied remarks attributed to the country's top army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan that Osama bin Laden would not be arrested if he agreed to live peacefully in Pakistan.

Durrani said that if bin Laden were captured in Pakistan he would be turned over to the United States. "You bet. No doubt on that," the envoy maintained on Wednesday when asked if bin Laden would be turned over.

"...as long as one is staying like a peaceful citizen, one would not be taken into custody. One has to stay like a peaceful citizen and not allowed to participate in any kind of terrorist activity," Major General Shaukat Sultan was quoted as saying by an ABC News broadcast on Wednesday, reportedly in a reference to bin Laden.

Asked if General Sultan was referring to bin Laden, Durrani said, "Absolutely not. He's not only being misquoted, he's been grossly misquoted. I have spoken to the person who is supposed to have given this statement... How could he have said -- we say and we continue to work towards... the hunt for bin Laden," he remarked in a television interview on Wednesday.

"If we capture him alive, we will put him to justice. We will not leave him. There's no question," Durrani said, adding that Laden would be turned over to the United States if caught.