Abbottabad commission: Malik claims Pakistani agencies had almost caught Bin Laden
He told a judicial commission that security agencies were about to find Bin Laden’s compound when US special forces captured and killed the al Qaeda chief on May 2, 2011 in Abbottabad.
“We were about to catch Osama when US Navy SEALs raided his compound (in Abbottabad),” insiders told The Express Tribune while quoting Malik.
On Wednesday, Malik recorded his statement and submitted a detailed report regarding the incident to the commission, officials said.
He also briefed the commission on security and visa policies. Both policies were being reviewed after the raid, Malik told members of the commission, which resumed hearing at the cabinet division on Wednesday.
The Abbottabad commission had summoned the interior minister last month, seeking an explanation of the circumstances leading to Bin Laden’s killing in light of security agencies’ briefing to the interior ministry soon after the raid, which triggered a heated debate on the failure of the Inter-Services Intelligence.
The panel also held a detailed interactive session with senior officials of the interior ministry, particularly Interior Secretary Siddique-e-Akbar, Chief Commissioner Islamabad Capital Territory Tariq Mehmood Pirzada, Inspector General Police Islamabad Bani Amin Khan, Director General Federal Investigation Agency Javed Iqbal, Director General Immigration & Passport Syed Wajid Ali and chairman of the national counter-terrorism authority, according a statement issued by the commission.
The commission has already recorded statements of the heads of military and civil intelligence agencies, the chief of the Pakistan Air Force, the director-general military operations, Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, present and former foreign minister and secretaries, and the wives and children of Bin Laden who were taken into protective custody from the three-storey compound in Abbottabad.
The meeting of the commission was also attended by member Lt General (retd) Nadeem Ahmed. Other members of the commission, former ambassador Ashraf Jahangir Qazi and Abbas Khan, could not attend the meeting.
COMMENTS (54)
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@alexis: Wut u sae?
OBL nva existed y kil him & drown hm .he shld hve bn paraded so wl sure everytng z a stage play frm e onset ...september 11...
This means they knew where he was?
We should blame Musharraf for this as well.
I will buy a nice cup of coffee from server of your choice but never buy your story regarding OBL.Good luck 007.
Finally truth is out Pakistan new about OBL location. Good job Mr Malik.
how could we have ever been close to capturing him when we spent all our time denying he was ever in pakistan - pathetic excuse from a government which has ministers linked with banned outfits
@Pashtun voice:
"the agencies are lucky they were not caught having chai with bin laden by the US Seals in the compound"
The best comment so far.
@Cautious: Lol,your post about Mr credibility made me roll on the floor laughining.
There appears to be a slip of tongue which should read 'He was very close to escape but the Seals landed a bit earlier'.
you don't find people when you knew where exactly he/she residing in.
hahaha I have not laughed so hard for a long long time. "Very close to capturing Bin Laden" - this ought to be the quote of the century.
No where else are the rulers so brazen, so shameless.
and amazingly, this man has an important position in the Pak Government. No wonder every thing is going south.
He is very close to capture the killers of BB.
Lo and Behold. We had found the compound and Pakistani forces were about to raid but the Americans beat us to it! Hahaha Good one Malik Sb
Is this the very same Rehman Malik who would turn beet red in the face from rage when the Americans (or anyone else) would dare to suggest that Osama bin Laden was hiding inside Pakistan???
Malik sahib OBL if at all was there he was kept for the day USA troops attacked.Obama & Co staged this political drama for political mileage. It is our fault provided free hand to Americans in side to go any where and groom anything.Made Pakistan biggest base of terrorism(Launching pad) for own purpose against China,Iran,Afghanistan,India,Russia,CAS,EU and in USA.
Yes. Fortunately, No Major/General were there in the compound at the time of the attack.
Mr. Malik, Stop fooling yourselves. The whole world knows the facts.
and that's how you say you are eating a Banana, while eating an apple. Bless you Zulfiqar Mirza !
Ha ha ha, love it... Shivraj patil of Pakistan....
Mr. Rehman Malik is wrong in saying that "Pakistani security agencies were a few days too late and they were ‘very close’ to capturing the Osama bin Laden".
Ha d Mr. Rehaman Malik knew about the presence of OBL, he himself would have informed the US government about OBL presence in Abbottabad to claim the head money from US government.
In it beyond imagination of any sane person that OBL was living unnoticed in such a big fort and its compound and no body knew as who was living there for the last five years or so?
.
Ridiculous!
Tomorrow he will come and say it was Pakistani forces who killed him, but are too big hearted to take the credit.
"OBL was actually caught by our security agencies in 2003 and was under house arrest at abbottabad house" - Rehman Malik.
I really like this guy - keeps the entire country in splits! Keep up the good work, Mr. Minister.
@Pashtun voice: Good point, but I think the raid came a bit too late in the night, well past chai time. What a lucky break for the PAK military & intelligence agencies.
Rehman Malik ... Almost got to OBL....that was rich ! You are the luckiest guy in Pakistan to keep your job inspite of your (in)efficiency. Congratulations.
Interior minister keeps suffering from Foot-in-mouth disease. Fortunately for him, he doesn't feel ashamed although his countrymen may feel so. It is such a shame that sham interior ministry failed miserably and the establishments shenanigans were exposed to the whole world. Yet, everyone pretend as if nothing happened keeping their cushy unaccountable jobs!
Bashira was looking for his Chapal.
Ha Ha Ha : Good joke by the minister, Did he not know that OBL was never in Pakistan and the whole show was staged by CIA/RAW/MOSSAD conspiracy to damage the "Image" of the "Citadel of the Islam" and "Land of the pure".
almost caught or were they playing catch and release.
That;s funny No body can deny this....... I can't say Joke of the Year 2012, because still more to come from ppl like these... LOL
I... I don't even know what to say other than that's a load of crap. Especially with it only now being claimed after so long. You would have been riding that from the day the compound was raided almost obsessively. This is just sheer stupidity. Even for Malik.
I doubt if Mr. Rehman could have found OBL if the 6+ footer served him his afternoon tea.
"Had almost caught OBL is not exactly the same as catching him"
The world's most wanted guy is hiding in my back yard. If some one comes and tells me about it, would I take a week to catch him? I will send in the force the very next minute, so to speak.
Nice, joke though.
Lololololololololololololololololololol!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the agencies are lucky they were not caught having chai with bin laden by the US Seals in the compound
This guy should seriously quit politics and start his own talk show and become a TV host. Drama!
The statement said “We were about to catch Osama when US Navy SEALs raided his compound (in Abbottabad),” Even if it is true then why is Dr. Afridi a traitor for finding OBL? On the other hand they could not find OBL for over 6 years in that compound what had changed after 6 years? Who is going to believe Pakistani claims after the fact? If we were really looking for OBL then we should have celebrated his killing.
LOL! Rehman Malik and his NOT-SO-AMAZING Revelations!
I wouldn't be surprised if this is true but coming from Rehman Malik I'd take his statement with a grain of salt. I hope the report is made public when it is released.
Joke of the century.
My heart went garden garden after reading this!
I have a hard time believing Malik that the PAK agencies were close to capturing OBL. There is every indication, including his proximate location to an elite military facility, that OBL was sheltered by elements of PAK’s military/intelligence community. If the PAK agencies are so good, how come so many high-value AQ leaders have been killed in PAK by U.S. drones, and not killed or captured by the PAKs. Do we need more proof beyond that on the competency (or lack of it) of the PAK agencies?
Does anybody have any reason to doubt that word would not have leaked to OBL that PAK agencies are on his trail, if indeed they were at all? PAK intelligence agencies are fully penetrated by supporters & patrons of the terrorists.
I think the commission should be spending more time trying to unearth the underlying issue of who provided sanctuary to OBL and the complexity of the PAK intelligence agencies in it, rather than wasting time on sideshows clearly intended to deflect attention from the underlying issue. I am sure rationale PAKs fully grasp this, and perhaps also some of the chest-thumping so-called patriots as well, but there appears to be a national turn-a-blind-eye attitude on this matter.
ya right. Stop fooling the world.
Rehman Malik : Comedian-in-chief. I have started liking him for his comedic comments !!!
Dear Mr. Malik, this is not a case of " der se aaye maagar durust aaye". If you think that OBL was about to be captured, you should have made that statement 8 months ago, so at least people would know that security agencies were not sleeping as alleged at the time.
Imagine, what would have happened if OBL was "found" by Pakistani army/law enforcement agencies? Most probably he would have been released like Hafeez of J-u-D for lack of evidence and OBL would have also joined his comrades at Difa-e-Pakistan Council!
Mr Credibility would probably be the last person in Pakistan to know the whereabouts of OBL - he's still trying to find the Star Wars characters who attacked you Naval Base.
Mr. Adviser, The point is no longer as to why Pakistan could not catch Bin Laden all these years. Now it is a matter of how he was sitting under the Pakistan Army and it's agencies' noses for such a long time. It's about how he could shift there with all of his families apparently with no concern for his security? Commonsense suggests that people don't move to an area with their entire family unless it is safe for them. The question then becomes - at what level was this security guaranteed to OBL? Mind answering such questions, instead of dishing out this rubbish and insulting the intelligence of the Pakistani people?
Wish it was trustworthy.But it isn't.