Abbottabad commission submits report to PM

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: Head of the commission tasked with revealing the circumstances surrounding the killing of Osama bin Laden in a US raid on a compound in Abbottabad in 2011 presented the panels’ findings to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Thursday.

However, it has yet to be decided if the report will be made public.

The report was presented to the prime minister by Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, at the Prime Minister House.

“During the meeting, Justice Iqbal briefed the prime minister on the salient features of the report prepared by the commission,” prime minister’s press secretary Shafqat Jalil said.

He said Mr Ashraf praised the efforts put in by the commission in compiling the report.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Jalil said it had not been decided yet whether the report would be made public. “The prime minister received a sealed copy of the report and could not go through it,” he said.

Mr Jalil said the document had classified information which might not be shared with the public.

It has been learnt that the report comprises 400 pages containing statements of more than 300 people and reference of over 7,000 letters or other documents of Bin Laden.

According to the Terms of Reference (TORs) of the commission, it has been tasked:

“To ascertain full facts regarding the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

“To investigate circumstances and facts regarding US operation in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011.

“Determine the nature, background and causes of lapses of the concerned authorities, if any, and to make consequential recommendations.”

According to the commission’s head, they had examined more than 1,500 witnesses including officials, the surviving members of Bin Laden family, the surviving members of the family of the two Pakistani brothers who were protecting Bin Laden, secretaries of government ministries, concerned civilian officials in Islamabad, and local officials, notables, neighbours, media people and military and intelligence personnel of the Abbottabad area.

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