Bin Laden raid: Abbottabad commission to probe courier’s widow

Al Kuwaiti owned the compound where the al Qaeda chief was killed.

ISLAMABAD: The inquiry commission probing the Abbottabad operation  will on October 17 interview the widow of Abu Ahmed al Kuwaiti – Osama bin Laden’s purported courier and owner of the compound where the US conducted a unilateral raid earlier this year.

Al Kuwaiti, whose real name is said to be Arshad Khan, was killed during the US raid on the compound where Americans claim they spotted Bin Laden and killed him.

Khan’s family lived in the same compound, along with Bin Laden’s family, and was left behind by the US forces after the raid.  Both families were taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies. Subsequent investigations revealed that the compound belonged to Khan who was also acting as Bin Laden’s courier.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the commission conducted exhaustive interviews of the adjutant-general General Headquarters, Rawalpindi and former and sitting home secretaries of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

In a meeting of the commission chaired by its head Justice Javed Iqbal, the adjutant-general explained the role and functions of his organisation, its charter of duties and its mandate, including his perspective on the Abbottabad operation.

(With additional input from APP)

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2011.