Abbottabad panel dismayed by poor civil society response
ABBOTTABAD, Sept 15: Members of the commission investigating the May 2 raid by US commandos on the Osama bin Laden compound in Abbottabad have been disappointed by civil society’s poor response.
Talking to reporters before leaving for Islamabad on Thursday, the chairman of the commission, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said not a single member of the civil society had turned up to provide information about the raid.
He said that witnesses would get full security and they could record their statements in his chamber in complete secrecy.Hesaid the commission did not have a limited scope and no timeframe had been set for its deliberations.
However, he said the commission would try to complete its task as soon as possible.
He said that collection of more information and evidences would help it to draw an accurate and authentic conclusion and fix responsibilities.
Members of the commission, Abbas Khan, General (retd) Nadeem and Ashraf Jehangir, stayed in Abbottabad for three daysand visited the Osama compound. They also visited the Ghazi Ghat base.
Justice Iqbal said the commission had stopped the handing over of Dr Shakeel Afridi to the US or any other country and restricted the movement of all officials linked to the May 2 raid. Dr Afridi is in custody of law-enforcement personnel.
The officials, who recorded their statements before the commission, are: Hazara commissioner and DIG, Abbottabad DCO and EDO (revenue).
About the opening of the Osama compound which is locked and heavily guarded, Justice Iqbal said there was nothing left of media’s interest there. It is just an empty house.
He said the commission believed that facts should not be hidden from the nation because hiding information created controversies and mistrust which they did not want. He assured the nation that all information would be compiled and madepublic.
He said the commission wanted to cover every aspect because they did not want a repetition of such incidents in future in the interest of the country.He said there would be no compromise on the integrity of the country and no-one had so far tried to influence the commission.
Our Islamabad reporter adds: According to an official press release issued here, the commission will visit Abbottabad again to record statements of remaining witnesses, including media personnel, who had covered the incident.