Abbottabad Commission Report Soon: Justice Iqbal - 29

The commission investigating the US operation in Abbottabad is expected to finalise its report by the end of this month, a member of the commission told Dawn on Sunday.
"The commission has completed almost all interviews and investigation and now the process of writing the report is under way," he said, adding it may take a month or so to complete what he termed the important and complicated report.

Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, who heads the commission, told Dawn that the process of recording of statements had completed except the statement of Pakistan's High Commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hassan, who has excused himself from appearing before the commission on health grounds.

Answering a question about the report, Justice Iqbal said: "It will be completed very soon."

Mr Hassan has written a letter to the commission and sent a medical certificate regretting that his health does not allow him to travel to Pakistan.
"We have received the letter of Wajid Shamsul Hassan along with a medical certificate which says that he was not able to appear before the commission," Justice Iqbal said.

He said the commission would meet on Monday to decide whether Mr Hassan should be allowed to record his statement through audio-video conferencing.

At  his  first  press  conference  on  Dec  8,  2011,  the  commission  head  was reluctant  to  confirm  or  reject  one  of  the  important  questions  whether  al  Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was present in the Abbottabad house which was raided by the US forces on May 2, 2011.

However,  Prime  Minister Yousuf  Raza Gilani  cleared  the  mist recently by putting a question before the National Assembly that who had allowed Osama to enter the country.
The  commission  will  evaluate  lapses  on  the  part  of  security  forces  and intelligence agencies that allowed US Navy Seals to conduct the 40-minute operation without any hindrance.

The commission recorded statements of the heads of military and civil intelligence agencies, Director General Military Operations, Pakistan's Ambassador to Washington, present and former foreign minister and secretaries, and wives and children of Osama who were taken into protective custody from the three-storey house in Abbottabad.

Syed Irfan Raza, Dawn (Islamabad), January 9, 2012, http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/09/Abbottabad-commission-report-soon-justice-iqbal.html