May 2 raid: Abbottabad panel to quiz Haqqani on Dec 14

Husain Haqqani was Pakistan's ambassador to US when American troops raided bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad.

ISLAMABAD:
The inquiry commission on the May 2 US raid in Abbottabad will interview Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani on December 14, officials said.

Haqqani was Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States when the US Navy SEALs stormed into Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad and killed the former al Qaeda chief. The episode was termed a unilateral operation on Pakistani soil which heightened tensions between Islamabad and Washington.

Haqqani, who recently resigned from his post as ambassador to the US in the wake of the Memogate controversy, will give a presentation to the commission regarding the situation that ensued in Washington after the raid. The commission will be headed by Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal. The inquiry commission will go through laws, which Washington and Islamabad have quoted, to justify or oppose the May 2 incursion. The commission will also interview Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif and President National Defence University, Islamabad Lieutenant General Agha Muhammad Umer Farooq the same day.


The commission is preparing its report on the May 2 incident. Other members of the commission, former Inspector General Police Abbas Khan, former diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi and Lt General (retd) Nadeem Ahmed will also attend the meeting which will be held at the Cabinet Division.

Earlier, the commission recorded the statements of the military lands director and the director of Save the Children foundation.

Former director general Intelligence Bureau, chairman National Database and Registration Authority, advocate Ahmer Bilal Soofi and an explosives expert also gave a presentation to the members of the commission.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29th, 2011.
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