ISLAMABAD: The United States has sent a letter to Pakistan in connection with the Abbottabad Commission set up to investigate the May 2, 2011 operation by US Seals to hunt down al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, and has declined to cooperate with any aspect of the investigation.
In a meeting of the Abbottabad Commission, it was agreed that a letter be sent to the United States to obtain answers to certain questions, and consequently, a letter was sent to the US embassy. The embassy certified its receipt, and following consultations it submitted its reply to the probe commission via the Pakistani Foreign Office in which it informed the commission that it could not cooperate with the investigation in any way.
In its letter to the US embassy, the Abbottabad Commission requested the United States to provide information pertaining to the commission’s investigation. According to sources, there was no specific reference to any particular US agency in the Abbottabad Commission’s letter.
The letter asked the US embassy to provide an answer by January 31, and before this deadline a formal reply was issued stating that the US authorities could not cooperate in the ongoing investigations in any way.
A team of the US Navy Seals acting on CIA intelligence killed the al-Qaeda chief on May 2 in his Abbottabad compound without the knowledge of the Pakistani government and army, which created a furore in Pakistan. The judicial commission was set up to probe the circumstances leading to the US secret operation.