ISLAMABAD – Formed 18 months ago to probe the events surrounding the killing of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, a five-member commission, led by justice (retired) Javed Iqbal, finally on Thursday handed its report to Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf; though it is yet to be made public. The findings do not directly fix the responsibility for the OBL operation on anyone, albeit criticise the government, military and intelligence agencies for what they term a clear case of intelligence lapse. The report finds the quarters concerned unaware of bin Laden’s presence inside the country. The five-member commission was constituted nearly a month after US Navy SEALs swooped upon bin Laden’s compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad in May 2011 clearly violating the international norms and Pakistan’s sovereignty. This embarrassing revelation – a unilateral action of the US – incited widespread denunciation in Pakistan, with Parliament demanding an independent investigation into how bin Laden had been able to hide and whether there was any government or military collusion. To dispel doubts about the objectivity of the investigation, retired judge Javed Iqbal had been put in charge of the inquiry commission. Receiving the report that could remain classified, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf lauded the efforts of the commission for carrying through the obligation it had been tasked with. Officials say Raja will decide whether to keep the report classified or make it public, but observers have said they expect little of substance to be revealed.Even, the commission team could not unveil its findings due to the ‘oath’, but it did share the problems and difficulties it faced in detailing and compiling them. In November last year, justice (retired) Iqbal told The Nation that their report was complete but as one of the commission members, Abbas Khan, had gone to the US for treatment, formal submission of it could not made without getting his signature. Sharing reasons about the delay in the report, Iqbal added, “We had no contact with him since many weeks.” The commission had requested the Ministry of Law to exclude Abbas Khan, former Punjab Police chief, since his unavailability was delaying the report. After a few weeks of dillydallying, the ministry passed the buck to the probing team, saying it was ‘unclear’ about its ailing member whose absence was the reason behind the delay in the report. A fortnight later, the commission notified the ministry of Abbas Khan’s near return. After getting his signature, the judicial commission still took two weeks to submit its report to the premier. The commission interviewed senior civilian and military officials, heads of civil intelligence agencies, the Military Operations director general, Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, incumbent and former foreign ministers, secretaries and family members of Osama bin Laden and the three widows of bin Laden before they were deported to Saudi Arabia in April last year.Also, the inquiry commission had to wait a couple of months for the statement of the former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and to abandon this idea later on seeing his busy schedule. Pakistan-US ties drastically deteriorated over the bin Laden raid. Relations slumped to a fresh low after botched US airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November 2011, but diplomats say the relationship improved after Pakistan re-opened its Afghan land crossings to NATO goods after a seven-month suspension.