Pakistan In Turmoil, Abbottabad Commission

A quest for truth about the last days of bin Laden

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (NDTV) March 8, 2012 – In his quest for the truth about his country’s most notorious guest, Shaukat Qadir started where it all ended: the room where Osama bin Laden was killed. Last August, Mr. Qadir, a retired Pakistani Army brigadier, retraced the steps of the American commandos who stormed through the corridors of Bin Laden’s hide-out on May 2.

Climbing the stairs to the second floor, Mr. Qadir passed a body outline that marked the spot where Bin Laden’s 22-year-old son, Khalid, was shot dead. Then he turned to a small room with a low ceiling, an empty wardrobe and a tight cluster of bullets holes in one wall, he said. Above that, on the ceiling, was a fading splash of blood that, his Pakistani intelligence escort told him, belonged to Bin Laden.

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Pakistan’s government says the answers will come from an official commission of inquiry, led by a Supreme Court judge, that has been working since May. Yet few believe the Abbottabad Commission, as it is known, will succeed. And at times, the Pakistani government has seemed more interested in moving on than seeking answers: on the night of Feb. 25, the local authorities in Abbottabad sent bulldozers to demolish Bin Laden’s house after nightfall, erasing a painful symbol of an embarrassing episode for the military.

More below the fold: the commission completes its findings …

Abbottabad Commission completes compilation of its findings; results contradict US version

ISLAMABAD (News Pakistan) March 15, 2012 – the Abbottabad Commission, tasked with compiling findings of the May 2 incident which culminated in killing the al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, has completed its work.

According to the sources, the findings are primarily based on the statements collected from Osama’s family members, his neighbours and the government officials who had a chance to enter the area after the raid. Raising questions on American position in the raid, the details provide a contradictory picture to the one portrayed by the US version.

An important question that the commission raised is about the finding of a single bullet-casing and bullet mark from the room that was allegedly filled with over half a dozen armed companions of OBL. The bullet mark was found on a wall in Osama’s bedroom, the room where he was killed by the American commandos.

The mark is so high on the wall that it appears as if the man firing the bullet was on his knees. The experts in the commission believe that this was the same bullet that caused OBL’s death and hit the wall after piercing through his skull.

Other than this, no other bullet-casing or mark has been found from former Al Qaeda chief’s room. However the commission members found over a dozen Klashnikov rifles less than yard away from the dead bodies.