President urged to appear before Abbottabad commission

Chief of the Abbottabad Commission, former Justice Javed Iqbal has said the investigation into the US raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 2 is likely to be completed by the end of this month. Talking to media on Thursday, former Justice Javed Iqbal said the Commission of Inquiry Act 1956 empowered the commission, if necessary, to even call the highest officials of the land.
He said the commission had written a letter to President Asif Ali Zardari to present himself before the commission. He however acknowledged that the President did enjoy immunity under the Constitution and the commission would consider that aspect if the President claimed his right of immunity.
To a question, he said the commission would certainly call High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamul Hassain to record his statement if it so desired. He further said they also called former Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani during investigation to find an answer to question why visas were issued to CIA contractors and other US citizens.
"We are interested to find out whether proper verification was done before issuance of visas," he said. As there existed links between Memogate and Abbottabad operation, the commission might call Hussain Haqqani to explain his position. "This does not mean that the commission is interfering in the investigation initiated by Supreme Court of Pakistan or parliamentary committee," he said.
According to him, various international non-governmental agencies have been called to record their views. They would also call parliamentarians to solicit their views. Sheikh Rashid and Khawaja Asif would also come to register their opinions. He said the commission had thoroughly investigated and recorded the statements of surviving members of OBL's family.
They were not needed by the commission for any other information, he said. To a question, he said: "It is 5th month since the commission began recording evidence within its mandate," adding that after more than 20 sessions the commission had examined more than 100 witnesses including army and air force officials, police and intelligence officials, the surviving members of OBL's family, the surviving members of the family of the two Pakistani brothers who were protecting OBL, secretaries of government ministries, concerned civilian officials in Islamabad, and local officials, notables, neighbours, media people and military and intelligence personnel deputed in Abbottabad.
Justice Iqbal said the commission also carried out five field visits to the OBL compound for investigation. The commission also reviewed the way or ways through which US helicopters entered the premises. In this respect, the commission met the local people of Torghar Town and also visited Kala Dhaka.
Replying to a question, he said it was premature to say with any degree of certainty that the persons who was killed in Abbottabad on May 2 was indeed Osama bin Laden. The commission had recommended to the competent authorities to make the report public. The mandate of commission was limited to investigate any individual, institutional lapse or inefficiency but it could not recommend punishment, he said.