ISLAMABAD: The Inquiry Commission on the Abbottabad operation has called upon the government to give access to 187,000 documents and letters of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden which were found from the three-storey house raided by US Navy SEALs in Abbottabad on May 2, a source close to the commission told Dawn on Tuesday.The source said the commission believed that these documents were in custody of Inter-Services Intelligence and were written in Arabic and English languages.

It has also been learnt that the process of translation of Arabic language documents has begun and it might take two to three months.

The source said the US Navy SEALs, who had raided the house in Bilal Town on May 2, had also taken credible evidence and documents with them from the house.

The commission’s head, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, had told a press conference last month that the commission would complete its investigation by December 2011, but it is still investigating the matter.

Meanwhile, MQM chief Altaf Hussain has declined to appear before the Inquiry Commission to record his statement.

“In response to an invitation of the commission for participation in a panel discussion held on Dec 13, Farooq Sattar, MQM’s Deputy Convener, has conveyed profound regret of Altaf Hussain for his inability to attend the discussion,” said an official announcement issued on Tuesday. However, the MQM leader has reposed full confidence in the commission.

In its meeting on Tuesday, the commission recorded statements of some senior journalists and columnists.

The commission held a detailed interactive session with prominent people, including Javed Chaudhry, Tahir Khalil, Tariq Chaudhry, Ikram Sehgal, Asif Bashir Chaudhry, Mushahid Hussain Syed, Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad and Kamran Ishtiaq.