Pakistanis insist they knew nothing, did nothing

>>> those behind the scene bin laden clips are playing to a pretty tough audience in pakistan , bin laden 's apparent home for the last several years. peter alexander is in islamabad with a report from there.

>> reporter: the release of new video showing osama bin laden made headlines across pakistan . but did little to convince people here he had lived among them for years.

>> we think this was a very big drama from the u.s. government .

>> reporter: most remain deeply skeptical, even suspicious, of the u.s.'s version of events. we showed the videos to a former head of pakistani intelligence who dismissed the clips as meaningless.

>> it doesn't prove anything. it doesn't prove he is still in charge. it doesn't even prove that this is the same room or the same house where he was living.

>> reporter: is it possible that osama bin laden lived in abbottabad for more than 5 1/2 years without the help of anyone within the pakistani intelligence or military?

>> i am absolutely certain that it is possible. and i am absolutely certain that the military did not --

>> reporter: to piece together bin laden 's movement, pakistani investigators are investigating three of his wives. the youngest said they reportedly lived here just an hour and a half outside islamabad as early as 2003 . this is a rural farming village. a place where villagers say everyone knows one another. and they say it's impossible that the 6'4" foreigner, a man with a large family and a familiar face like osama bin laden , could ever have hidden here. no stranger could come here and dare to stay, this man explains. to many observers, the u.s. and pakistan are engaged in a pr war with the u.s. insisting up until his death bin laden actively controlled al qaeda from his compound. but pakistani officials claim bin laden was just an ageing terrorist, a spiritual leader, whose ability to communicate with his followers was severely limited. peter alexander , nbc news, islamabad .