A retired Pakistani general serving on the commission investigating Osama bin Laden’s presence in his country said he does not believe that Pakistan’s intelligence services or its military helped shelter the former al Qaeda leader, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
General Nadeem Ahmed’s statements have immediately drawn criticism from commentators who questioned his impartiality and suggested his comments threaten the integrity of the commission probing how bin Laden ended up in the garrison town of Abbottabad and the subsequent May 2 raid that eventually killed him.
“Irrespective of what the US says, I have absolutely not an iota of doubt on this, that no government in Pakistan, no military in Pakistan, no intelligence organisation in Pakistan would do such a stupid thing,” Nadeem Ahmed told an interviewer from the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Pakistani leaders have highlighted the US raid citing it as a violation of their sovereignty all the while insisting that they had no idea whether America’s most wanted man was living in the northwestern town.
However, some members of Congress have questioned how Pakistan’s security establishment could have missed Bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, home to Kakul, Pakistan’s leading military academy.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 20th, 2011.
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Hahaha... this thing gets funnier by the day !
Is Gen Nadeem a spokesman and Chairman of the Commission or merely a member ? Who is going to discipline him and tell him that the country is not interested in his beliefs, only true unvarnished facts should be unearthed. We can clearly see that the Military has nominated Gen Nadeem as a member with a clear mandate to muddy the waters and conceal facts. Both shocking and sad ! "Keep spreading lies" should be made the charter of the self appointed guardians of national interest.
"Justice Iqbal termed the statement of Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmed “his personal remarks” and not the commission’s finding. He said no member of the commission should give such a statement that might affect the investigation."
This general should be tried for contempt of court. He is one of the members of the commission but he has already announced the results! Har shakh pe fouji betha hai anjaame gulistan kiy ho ga.
"Lieutenant General (retired) Nadeem Ahmed, on Tuesday, said that the Abbottabad commission plans to get testimony from US officials".
General, keep holding your breadth! Epicenter of terrorism is going to call the remaining superpower to testify and they are going to high tail over to Pakistan!
It is difficult to believe that anyone in PAK actually believes any of this... This is great drama with no meaning but I guess this is all we can expect
Keep dreaming about having power and authority over the US forces. This is the most ridiculous statement even from Pakistan army’s standards. How on earth could US army officers tell the commission about the presence and protection of OBL in his safe haven in Pakistan? The commission must state clearly and honestly that OBL was there and was shot dead. This would go a long way in opening the mindset of Pakistani people. However, it appears that asking for truth from the army is unpatriotic and like pulling out the teeth.
It's nice to know that one of the open minded members of the commission looking into the OBL debacle has already concluded that no one was hiding OBL and that the American's are just trying to make the Pakistani security establishment look bad. You apparently don't need to have an investigation just ask Nadeem Ahmed he appears to already have all the convenient answers.