Pakistan was kept in the dark: general

Director General Military Operations Maj-Gen Ashfaq Nadeem claimed that neither the US had apprised Pakistan armed forces of the presence of Bin Laden in Abbottabad nor there was any internal information in this regard. He, however, said that Pakistan and the US had a close liaison and coordination in the war on terror. – File Photo by AFP

ISLAMABAD: Director General Military Operations Maj-Gen Ashfaq Nadeem told the Abbottabad commission on Monday that the US had not informed Pakistani security organisations about the May 2 operation in which Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed.
A member of the commission told Dawn that in a detailed briefing at the third meeting of the commission Maj-Gen Nadeem said the strategic sites in the country were well protected.
He claimed that neither the US had apprised Pakistan armed forces of the presence of Bin Laden in Abbottabad nor there was any internal information in this regard. He, however, said that Pakistan and the US had a close liaison and coordination in the war on terror.
“The operation in Abbottabad was not known to any tier in the Pakistan army,” Maj-Gen Nadeem was quoted as saying in a press release issued after the meeting which was presided over by the Chairman of the commission, Justice Javed Iqbal, and attended by former inspector general of police Abbas Khan, former ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi and Lt-Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmed.
The commission raised questions about safety and protection of nuclear assets and strategic sites. And Maj-Gen Nadeem was quoted in the press release as saying: “The strategic sites are very well protected and are under air and ground protection of Pakistani armed forces, as such not comparable with the Abbottabad incident.”
Maj-Gen Nadeem explained the perspective leading to the Abbottabad operation.
Giving background of the Pak-US joint military operation in the troubled Pak-Afghan area, he said Pakistan, US and International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) conducted anti-militant operations on their sides of the Pak-Afghan border. Plans of operations close to the border were fully shared, he added. “The US acted in an environment of trust and army was, therefore, taken by surprise by the Abbottabad operation,” he said.
He informed the commission about the contacts made by Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani with Chief of Air Staff Rao Qamar, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari soon after having come to know about the incident.
About army posts established along the Pak-Afghan border, he said the army was involved in operations in different areas to combat militancy.
The presence of army, he said, was meant to eliminate militancy so as to establish the writ of the state.
He, however, said that no threat whatsoever was envisaged from Afghanistan and Isaf, both of whom were allies of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.
Responding to a question asked by a member of the commission regarding presence of Osama in the garrison area in Abbottabad, Maj-Gen Nadeem said the Abbottabad cantonment was an open cantonment, hosted only training institutions and as such no fighting troops were deployed in the garrison.
The press release quoted the general as saying: “Nevertheless these institutions have their own security in place to deal with any security threat.”
A member of the commission told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the commission had taken notice of a recent statement of Lt Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmed, a member of the commission, saying that the ISI was unaware of the presence of Bin Laden in Abbottabad.
Justice Javed Iqbal barred members of the commission from issuing any statement regarding the investigation.
The commission will met again on August 1 when Inter-Service Intelligence Director General Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha is likely to brief it on ISI’s role in the whole episode.

Abbottabad commission meets today

The commission is required to look into security deficiencies, if any, and make recommendations on how to prevent such incidents in future. – File Photo by AFP

ISLAMABAD: The judicial commission investigating the May 2 raid by US Commandos in Abbottabad will meet here on Monday.
Although the commission appears to have made little headway in the probe so far it is expected that in its second or subsequent meetings it will hear from intelligence agencies whether they were aware of the presence of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad and about the US raid.
A member of the commission told this correspondent on Sunday that the statements of senior officials of ISI or another intelligence agency might be recorded on Monday and the information might clarify a few points.Mystery shrouds the raid because many questions raised about it are yet to be answered, including the presence of Osama in the three-storey mansion in Abbottabad and 40-minute action of the US commandos the statements may throw light on the role of Pakistani security and the role of security and intelligence agencies in the whole episode.
The commission is required to look into security deficiencies, if any, and make recommendations on how to prevent such incidents in future.
The terms of reference of the commission require it to ascertain facts about the presence of Osama in Pakistan; investigate circumstances and facts regarding the US operation; determine the nature, background and causes of lapses by the authorities concerned, if any; and make recommendations.
The member, who did not want to be named, said the statement made by Lt-Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmed in an interview would also be taken up in the meeting.
“The issue will be raised and he will be asked to avoid giving statements regarding investigation,” he said.
The retired general, who is a member of the commission, had said in the interview with a foreign radio channel that the ISI had not been aware of Osama’s presence in Abbottabad.
“The commission chief has issued a general instruction for all members that they should avoid their appearance in the media by any means till the investigation is completed,” the member said.
The remarks of Gen Ahmed trigged a controversy that compelled the head of the commission, Justice Javed Iqbal, to come out with a clarification by saying that those were Gen Ahmed’s personal views and not the finding of the commission.
Talking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the retired general had said he did not believe Pakistani intelligence services or military had helped shelter the Al Qaeda leader.“Irrespective of what the US says, I have absolutely not an iota of doubt on this, that no government in Pakistan, no military in Pakistan, no intelligence organisation in Pakistan would do such a stupid thing,” he said.

Musharraf says no complicity on bin Laden

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf delivers an address titled 'The State of the US-Pakistani Relationship' on July 21, 2011 at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. -AFP Photo

WASHINGTON: Former president Pervez Musharraf insisted Thursday that Pakistan did not provide assistance to Osama bin Laden as he renewed criticism of the US raid that killed the world’s most wanted man.
On a visit to Washington, Musharraf staunchly defended Pakistan’s military and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) service which have long come under US suspicion over their relationships with militants.
The former army chief, who seized power in a 1999 coup, said he would have known about assistance to bin Laden who apparently moved into a house in the garrison town of Abbottabad during Musharraf’s presidency.
“I confidently and surely say that it was not complicity because I am very aware of one thing, that I didn’t know, whether one believes it or not,” said Musharraf, who lives in self-imposed exile in London.
“Is it possible that the army and the ISI were hiding from me? No 100 times, not at all, not possible. Because I am from the army, they are my people,” he said at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Musharraf described bin Laden’s hideout as “a normal, slightly on the large side, house” and said it would not have naturally attracted suspicion.
“There are hundreds of houses available all over. If he was to be put there, wouldn’t there be some guards and some security that he doesn’t leave the place,” Musharraf said.
Musharraf said that the May 2 raid worsened Pakistani images of the United States as people saw it as a “violation of our sovereignty.”
The United States recently suspended around a third of its security assistance to Pakistan as it presses for more action against militants.
Pakistan recently threw out US trainers and Washington has been worried about the military’s ties with Afghanistan’s Taliban and anti-Indian groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba which allegedly planned the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
“While I cannot rule out for sure that there is not one element who may be sympathetic to the Taliban, I am very sure that the general direction of ISI and the military is very positive,” Musharraf said.