Accusing the intelligence agencies of having failed to detect Osama bin Laden’s presence “right under their noses” in Abbottabad and rejecting the military investigation, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday demanded that the government appoint an all-powerful judicial commission led by the Supreme Court chief justice to probe the matter.
“We completely reject the prime minister’s committee to be headed by a lieutenant general. It is powerless and cannot investigate the matter in depth,” Nawaz told a news conference at the end of two-day party meeting that he chaired after his return to the country from the UK. “We must get to the bottom of the issue otherwise history will not forgive us,” he said, adding that the incident showed that the defence of the country had weakened. Nawaz called upon the government to set up a commission headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising chief justices of the provincial high courts and the Islamabad High Court within three days.
“I have written a letter to the prime minister for the constitution of a judicial commission to thoroughly probe the recent events so that the people of Pakistan and the international community are made aware of the complete factual situation,” he said. “This commission shall be given 21 days to ascertain complete facts of Osama bin Laden’s presence and the American operation in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the commission should have full authority to summon any official that it deemed fit for investigation.
However, he said if the government failed to form the commission, he would discuss the matter with his party and announce the future course of action. The PML-N chief said findings of the judicial commission should be made public so that the nation could be made aware of the mistakes made by those responsible. Nawaz said government agencies, which were supposed to be vigilant, failed to get information about the movement of the US helicopters.
“Our secret agencies chase politicians but couldn’t see what was happening right under their noses. They continue to play political chess. It has plunged the country into worldwide humiliation,” he said, adding, “We should treat this cancer with full seriousness.” “The government and the armed forces have not given satisfactory answers and the Osama raid has affected the morale of the armed forces. The incident has not only raised serious questions in the minds of common people but has also caused resentment and demoralisation in the cadres of the armed forces,” PML-N leader said.
He said that the Abbottabad operation was the result of negligence on the part of relevant institutions and it could not be overlooked. “Osama’s presence in Abbottabad right under the nose of defence organisations is the intelligence failure and the country’s defence system seems to be so weak that it couldn’t detect the US intrusion and their presence in our space and ground limits for nearly two hours is the worse form of negligence on the part of these institutions,” Nawaz said.
Asked why he had not asked for the resignations of the civilian and military leaders in the wake of the Abbottabad operation, Nawaz said the demand that they made for the judicial commission was the result of thorough two-day deliberations that he had with the party leaders as it was a very serious issue. “If I ask for the resignations of the president and the prime minister that means I am satisfied and rather appreciate the role of the military leadership in the Abbottabad incident and same is the case for other way round. Let us wait until someone is held responsible for the incident and after that we will not hesitate to ask for the resignations,” he said.
To another query, he said he had extended cooperation to President Asif Zardari and the government keeping in view the broad national interests but they did not respond in kind and opted for policies that caused harm to the interests of country.
