Abbottabad raid: Panel under pressure to keep report classified
The Abbottabad Commission – which has completed its findings on the May 2 raid – is facing pressure from “certain powerful quarters” to not make public its report — a document that can potentially raise critical questions about the role and competence of security agencies operating in the country.
The commission – probing the death of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a midnight raid by American commandos in Abbottabad on May 2 2011 – has been working on a report for more than a year now and has missed several deadlines for unveiling its findings.
The latest announcement by the commission said it would be making its report public by the end of May — a commitment that remains unfulfilled to date. Prior to that, the commission’s chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal told the media in Islamabad that the report would be out by the end of December 2011.
Insiders privy to the commission’s working told The Express Tribune on Thursday that there was immense pressure on the probe body for holding back its findings and it has been directed to keep the contents of the report classified.
An official said: “Certain powerful quarters want the commission to submit its report to the government without sharing it with media as announced by Justice Iqbal on more than one occasion”.
Meanwhile, officials said that even if the report is made public, there is a possibility that it would not contain anything that would implicate intelligence failures or security breaches.
“It is going to be a document that will be hiding more than revealing… Nothing new might come to the surface,” said one official. According to earlier reports, most politicians had called for holding somebody responsible for the failure of intelligence agencies in tracing down Bin Laden who lived undetected virtually in the backyard of a premier military training facility in Abbottabad.
Insiders added that it had been more than a month since the commission had last interacted with some government officials and since then there seems to have been no development.
A member of the commission had told The Express Tribune in early May that the drafting would take less than a month if it is done regularly. Almost two months have passed since then without any word on the progress of the report.
Last month, a member said that the commission wants to meet with then prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani before finalising its report but amid deliberations the Supreme Court disqualified him.
The commission had also sent a set of questions to President Asif Ali Zardari as head of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) some six months ago but never received an answer. Top leaders of almost all political parties had appeared before the commission from time to time to record their statements.
But the official added that the commission had ultimately decided to move ahead and finalise the report despite no meeting with Gilani or replies from the president.
(Read: Analysis - May Day, May Day!)
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2012.
COMMENTS (18)
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The more we delay it the more we show our incompetence to the world thus giving our enemies a free hand to put as many false allegations on us as they can. The report must be brought out immediately even if it was a negligence on our part in any aspect. Otherwise it would be difficult to face false allegations being put on us by our enemies throughout the world.
will this report mention anything about Pakistan allowing access to helicopter left behind by navy seal to a so called all weather friend?
And then they tell us to trust the leadership and the forces!!! Total crap!!!!
The army's incompetence has already been exposed. It is what the report say about role of PPP and their coordination with CIA that would be most troublesome. Don't expect them to publish it. Obama admin would like to get it out of the way much before election, so that there no surprise with negative fall out.
Remember Hamudur Rehman report ???. These things will come out after one more generation when things get really cold. Panetta's saying will be repeated by pak admin "Time to move on" By the way, what is the point of this report when the terms of reference does not include how and where from OBL came to live in Pakistan, his procreation, his support structure in and out of Pak estd etc. Even though OBL was a wanted terrorist, the rest of the world is least interested in the lapses of Pak army during the raid by US. They are more interested in my previous point ie OBL's support structures in Pakistan.
so all in its probability,Osama seems to have come alone from the caves of Tora bora,purchased a plot of land,build a big house with even bigger boundary walls at the doorstep of Pakistan's premier Military academy,without being apprehended by authorities, by his own.then he brought his battalion of family to this place all along her third or fourth wife delivering babies in govt hospitals.i was impressed by the choice of his location of hiding.for him doorstep of a military academy was more safe than the caves of tora bora.
The PCO SC judges and commissions are tough only against the elected leaders of the PPP govt. They can at will dismiss the elected PM like they always did. They can hang the elected PM and aid and abet in multiple acts of high treason. The govt has no powers against the might of the deep state. This report would sit with Humood Rehman Commission Report. On the contrary the judicial commission report against HH very swiftly found him guilty of writing to the American general despite MI admitting of writing and delivering the memo. While no PM of any party has been allowed to complete his/her term by the general and judges, there has never been a SC judge or general ever been tried let alone dismissed for surrendering half of the country and hosting OBL. Yet for the rightwing touts the govt is powerful and judiciary is in its control and it would not want to release the report! When OBL was brought to his safe haven in Abbottabad Zardari and PPP were not in power, so how could they be responsible? Lies lies and more lies just like atrocities and surrender in E. Pakistan.
What is the use of these reports? We already witnessed the impact of Hamood ur Rehman Report.....Just making tall claims nothing much.
@ijaz Mir: "Basic purpose of a judicial inquiry is to protect the basic rites of a culprit. In this case Culprit is United States."
Really? Are you aware that the US senators have been regularly grilling Sherry Rehman about who Osama was hiding in Abbotabad so close to Kakul and no one knew about it. Americans are not hiding their part in the raid at all. They are proclaiming it loudly and clearly These are not actions of a culprit.
It is the armed forces that failed to detect the operation and take any retaliatory actions. The same armed forces that use up 63% of your tax revenues. They are the ones trying to hide what happened
The report is being released in October / November in USA and World-wide. It is Kathryn Bigelow's movie titled "Zero Dark Thirty".
I dont know of anyone , who is interested to hear what the commission may have to say. They cannot say anything meaningful. Its like expecting apples from a lemon tree. It does not happen.
The 'agencies' do not want the rest of the world to know that they didn't know about OBL living in Abbottabad. Yeah, right.
Didn't one of the looser lipped people already basically give the conclusion a few months ago? I'm pretty sure it was the predictable "inconclusive" conclusion. I can't imagine much has changed since then considering the more time that passes the less that you'll usually end up finding. It wasn't a very speedy or productive start to begin with.
Who will trust this report when the commission was denied access to the Prime Minister and President didn't even reply to questions that were sent to him, for unspecified reasons. The world at large will see it as an exercise in futility and master piece of collusion.
Basic purpose of a judicial inquiry is to protect the basic rites of a culprit. In this case Culprit is United States. How it is possible Government of Pakistan can disclose this dilemma.More than a year has been passed public forget. Ordering a inquiry was to col don criticism. Well done PPP. .
What are the chances of this report containing anything that isn't already known to the public? . It's common knowledge that the American's didn't inform your civilian or military leaders because they don't trust you. It's also common knowledge that the USA special forces performed a flawless operation under the noses of your military and could likely to the same again. Lastly -- everyone already knows that you have taken no steps to find out who was helping OBL and have prosecuted the one Pakistani who helped find him. . I don't know who is trying to keep the report confidential --- but I suspect it maybe both the military and civilian leadership. The military has never tolerated anything that makes them look bad and the civilian leadership probably views this report as providing more ammunition to the anti Pakistan Senators in America. It's also worth noting that Ambassador Sherry Rehman has avoided answer regular tough questions by American Congressmen concerning OBL hiding in the shadow of the PMA - citing the ongoing investigation - her life is about to get much tougher.
Its a Lie. There is nothing to report. The Whole Raid was a failed drama. Maybe it was directed by Mahesh Bhatt. Hence, it failed.