Pakistan's High Commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hassan. - File Photo

ISLAMABAD: The Abbottabad inquiry commission turned down on Monday a request by Pakistan's High Commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hassan to record his statement through video conferencing.

According to sources, members of the commission minutely watched video clips of Mr Hassan's interviews to different media groups.

'After viewing the clips of his interviews to different international channels we saw that he was wellinformed about the May 2 incident. So we are insisting that he should appear before the commission to record his statement,' a member of the commission said.

The high commissioner had written a letter to the commission and sent a medical certificate, regretting that his health did not allow him to travel to Pakistan.

The commission discussed the request and decided that he should appear as soon as possible because the process of interviews and recording of statements had almost been completed.

On Monday, it conducted a detailed interview of Dr Ihsanullah Turabi, Provincial Coordinator for the National Programon Family Planning and Primary Healthcare in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to ascertain how a fake polio vaccination campaign had been launched by Dr Shakeel Afridi to track down Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.

The commission also recorded statements of Bashir Chohan, chief of the Comprehensive Security Services, Rawalpindi, and Maj (retd) Aamir Aziz, a resident of Bilal Colony in Abbottabad where the three-storey complex of Osama was raided by US commandos.

The meeting held at the cabinet division was presided over by Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal of the Supreme Court.

Lt-Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmed, a member of the commission, also attended the meeting.

Opinion

Editorial

Plugging the gap
06 May, 2024

Plugging the gap

IN Pakistan, bias begins at birth for the girl child as discriminatory norms, orthodox attitudes and poverty impede...
Terrains of dread
Updated 06 May, 2024

Terrains of dread

Restored faith in the police is unachievable without political commitment and interprovincial support.
Appointment rules
Updated 06 May, 2024

Appointment rules

If the judiciary had the power to self-regulate, it ought to have exercised it instead of involving the legislature.
Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....