Commission to start an argument in Pakistan Osama

A Pakistani government's commission, mandated with ascertaining the facts about the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and probing the U.S. unilateral raid that killed the al-Qaida chief, faced controversy before it kicked off the highly important investigation.

The five-member commission was to be headed by Justice Javed Iqbal, a Supreme Court judge, and its other members include a retired lieutenant general, a former Supreme Court judge, a former police chief and a former ambassador, the prime minister office said.

The commission was constituted on Tuesday some two weeks after the Pakistani parliament approved a unanimous resolution demanding that an independent commission investigate the May 2 U.S. incursion.

The U.S. unilateral action to kill Osama bin Laden had sparked a widespread protest across the country as the country's radar system could not detect movement of the U.S. military helicopters, which conducted some 40-minute operation in the garrison city of Abbottabad.

According to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's office, the commission's mandate includes establishing "the full facts" regarding Osama's presence in Pakistan, as well as details about the U.S. incursion.

The commission shall determine the nature, background and causes of lapses of the concerned authorities, if any. The commission shall make consequential recommendations, it said.

No time frame was given to the commission to complete its work but high hopes were attached to the inquiry body as the U.S. action was considered as a humiliation to the Pakistani leaders.

As the prime minister's office announced the panel, a controversy over its composition surfaced before it kicked off its work. The opposition leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif blasted the government for not consulting the opposition on the formation of the commission. He also said that even the members of the commission were not taken into confidence by the government.

Former Supreme Court Judge, Fakhar-ud-Din G. Ibrahim, who was nominated member of the commission, refused to become the member. Ibrahim said that he was not informed before his nomination and he would not be able to work.

Chairperson of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Asma Jehangir, said that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was not informed about the Supreme Court judge's nomination as head of the commission. She said that the Chief Justice told her that he was consulted before the announcement of the commission and nomination of the apex court judge as its head. She argued that only the Chief Justice can nominate a judge for any inquiry.

The panel could not start work which would further delay investigation into the U.S. incursion and presence of the world most-wanted man in the Pakistani garrison city. Pakistan is under mounting international and internal pressure to investigate the local network, which facilitated Osama bin Laden to live in Pakistan for years.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who traveled to Islamabad late last month on an unscheduled visit, pushed Pakistan for investigation into the whole Osama episode. The whole world and Pakistanis are awaiting an independent inquiry how Osama bin Laden stayed for five years in the Pakistani city and how the country's intelligence failed to know about his whereabouts.

Pakistanis are also demanding as to why Pakistan's radar system failed to detect the U.S. intrusion and 40-minute operation by the U.S. navy SEALs in the sensitive military areas without the knowledge of the Pakistani military. Pakistan's military and Air Force had also launched its own inquiry but there has been no result so far.

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