ISLAMABAD - Abbottabad Inquiry Commission head Justice (r) Javed Iqbal yesterday said making the AIC report public was good for Pakistan’s integrity.

The Abbotabad Inquiry Commission report is still a secret as the leaked documents have told only the half truth, the head of the investigation team told The Nation in an exclusive interview.

Justice (r) Javed Iqbal said the leaked report was based on the facts already known to the people. “Some of the major facts which were known to all were the same, but rest of the published ones did not match the actual report prepared by the commission,” said Justice (r) Javed Iqbal. He added the commission had also suggested making it public in the national interest at the time of presenting the same to the Prime Minister’s House.

The head of the commission, tasked for revealing the circumstances under which Osama bin Laden was killed in a US raid on a compound in Abbotabad in 2011, presented the panel’s findings to former PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in January 2013.

The report consisted of over 350 pages, containing accounts of a large number of eyewitnesses and statements of 300 people, including prominent figures.

It may be mentioned here that, according to a clause of ‘Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1956’, it is the authority of the government to make it public or not.

Justice (r) Javed Iqbal said the general information that ‘US SEALs’ took part in the Abbottabad operation was in the knowledge of a large number of people, while many other findings were different. He said it was good for sovereignty and integrity of the country to implement the recommendations of unpublished Abbottabad Inquiry Commission in letter and spirit.

He believed the recommendations of the report could be helpful for resolving the issues related to terrorism, defence policy etc. He said responsibility over such a big matter could not be fixed on a single person or institution.

It may be mentioned here that a probe body member had also submitted a dissenting note in the commission’s report. The findings of the report released by the foreign media were reportedly one of the initial three drafts.

The terms of references (ToRs) of the commission were to ascertain facts regarding the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and investigate circumstances as well as facts about the US operation in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011.  It was also mandate of the commission to determine the nature, background and cause of lapses of the authorities concerned, if any, and to make consequential recommendations.

The commission head had earlier reportedly remarked that the actual report was initially prepared by the commission in a hand-written form to avoid any leakage and once the report was completed, it was printed under a strict supervision.

On May 2, 2011, the United States Navy officials killed Osama bin Laden in a midnight secret operation in Abbottabad. The Abbottabad Commission was constituted on June 21, 2011, to probe the operation. The compiled report, according to the commission’s head, has yet to be made public.

Abbottabad Inquiry Commission head Justice (r) Javed Iqbal is also supervising ‘Missing Persons Commission’s report which has reportedly been completed, but has not been presented to the prime minister.