Former PM Gillani says Abbottabad commission report would expose Hussain Haqqani

ISLAMABAD - Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani on Tuesday expressed that the Abbottabad commission report should be made public which would expose the role of Hussain Haqqani.

The PPP leader while talking to Dawn News inquired as to why the incumbent government was sitting on the Justice Javed Iqbal-led judicial commission’s report on the operation to hunt down Osama Bin Laden.

“My government had formed the judicial commission to probe the Abbottabad operation (a raid by US Navy seals in the garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2, 2011 in which Bin Laden was killed). But why is the incumbent government not making the report [public]. The role of Mr Haqqani in the Memogate [scandal] will also be exposed if the commission’s report is made public,” he said.

Gillani's outburst came in the aftermath of former ambassador to US Hussain haqqani's article in leading American paper where he claimed setting up CIA operatives in Pakistan with civilian's nod.

Yousaf Raza Gillani, who was the then premier maintained that he and president Zardari did not issue visas to  US security officials against rules

“Neither Mr Zardari nor I had sanctioned visas to US security officials against rules. The procedure involving screening by state agencies is followed in such cases,” Mr Gilani said, adding that nobody could challenge his loyalty to the country.

Gillani also showed reservations and posed a question as to why Hussain Haqqani was allowed to leave the country when his name was put on ECL by his government.

'My government had placed Mr Haqqani’s name on the ECL to stop him from leaving the country in [connection with] the Memogate ... who allowed him to leave the country?' Gilani asked, adding that while president Asif Ali Zardari was out of the country, he had ensured that Mr Haqqani had stayed in Pakistan'.

Mr Haqqani, once a close aide of Mr Zardari, was alleged to be behind a mysterious memo seeking Wash­i­n­gton’s help in blocking a possible military coup in Pakis­tan following America’s operation in Abbottabad that led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

The former ambassador to US stirred controversy when in an article published last week, he admitted facilitating US for shooting down Osama Bin Laden without the help of Pakistan's armed forces or intelligence agencies.