Islamabad, Mar 1 (PTI): Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif received money from al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden to contest elections against Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party in 1990, claimed a recently-launched book.

Titled 'Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-i-Aman' by Shamama Khalid, the wife of former ISI operative Khalid Khawaja, the book claimed that Mr Sharif's pledge of introducing an Islamic system attracted Khawaja as well as Bin Laden .

"Chief of PML-N Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif received funding from Osama Bin Laden, founder of Al-Qaeda, to contest elections against Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party (PPP) after the end of Zia regime," the book stated.

But even though Bin Laden funded Mr Sharif heavily, the latter backtracked from all his promises after coming into power, a Dawn report said.

The book also carries a note from former Inter-Services Intelligence director general, retired Lt-Gen Hamid Gul, which claims that Khawaja was very close to Mr Sharif for some time. According to the book, Palestinian Sunni Abdullah Azzam, who is also known as the 'father of global jihad' and Bin Laden's mentor, introduced Mr Khawaja to the al Qaeda head honcho.

The book claimed that Mr Khawaja was killed by a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban while he was on a peace mission in the restive tribal areas.