Abbottabad commission quizzes interior secretaries
Crosschecks with interviews of civil and military officials.
ISLAMABAD:
The Abbottabad commission on Wednesday cross-questioned the interior secretary and his predecessor to verify the information provided by civil intelligence and law enforcement agencies regarding the May 2 incursion by American Seals which killed Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
For the third consecutive day, the commission interviewed officials to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the raid. Interior Secretary Siddique-e-Akbar and his predecessor Qamar Zaman Chaudhry appeared before the commission and were cross-questioned on the basis of information provided by the chiefs of the Federal Investigation Agency, Intelligence Bureau and police officials. “Commission members want to crosscheck information provided by their subordinate agencies. They are also tallying this with information provided by various other officials including the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),” an official associated with the Abbottabad commission told The Express Tribune, declining to disclose his identity on record. “The commission is investigating the incident from different angles. It is not a simple case,” the official said, declining to share details since all the proceedings were held in-camera.
The commission has been tasked to ascertain the facts regarding the presence of Bin Laden in Pakistan. It has already conducted interviews of military officials including director general (DG) military operations and DG ISI.
The government had announced that it would make the commission’s report public. However, no time frame had been fixed for it to complete the inquiry.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2011.
The Abbottabad commission on Wednesday cross-questioned the interior secretary and his predecessor to verify the information provided by civil intelligence and law enforcement agencies regarding the May 2 incursion by American Seals which killed Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
For the third consecutive day, the commission interviewed officials to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the raid. Interior Secretary Siddique-e-Akbar and his predecessor Qamar Zaman Chaudhry appeared before the commission and were cross-questioned on the basis of information provided by the chiefs of the Federal Investigation Agency, Intelligence Bureau and police officials. “Commission members want to crosscheck information provided by their subordinate agencies. They are also tallying this with information provided by various other officials including the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),” an official associated with the Abbottabad commission told The Express Tribune, declining to disclose his identity on record. “The commission is investigating the incident from different angles. It is not a simple case,” the official said, declining to share details since all the proceedings were held in-camera.
The commission has been tasked to ascertain the facts regarding the presence of Bin Laden in Pakistan. It has already conducted interviews of military officials including director general (DG) military operations and DG ISI.
The government had announced that it would make the commission’s report public. However, no time frame had been fixed for it to complete the inquiry.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2011.