Islamabad:
The head of the Pakistani judicial commission which is investigating the presence of Osama bin Laden in the country and the subsequent covert US raid that killed him, said the panel was close to completing its probe.
"A little work is left and a good report with our recommendations will be submitted. We will request the government to publish the report," Javed Iqbal told a news conference on Thursday. Mr Iqbal is a retired Supreme Court judge who is heading the panel. He however refused to set a deadline for submitting the report but said it would be handed over to the government in a "few weeks". He added, ''The government will have the final say in whether the report will be made public.''
Mr Iqbal refused to answer questions on whether one of the persons killed during the US military raid on a compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2 this year was actually Osama bin Laden. He said the commission would give its stand on the issue in its report.
"The commission's report will be comprehensive, specific and relevant to the challenges confronting the country, which provided the context in which this tragic national policy, intelligence and security failure occurred," he said.
The Al Qaeda leader's widows and children and others found in the compound in Abbottabad had been thoroughly questioned and their statements recorded, he added.
After completing the questioning, the commission informed the government that the women and children could be repatriated to their own country as they were no longer needed. ''It is now up to the government to decide on their repatriation,'' Iqbal said. Recent media reports have suggested that Bin Laden's widows and children might be repatriated to Saudi Arabia.
Iqbal said the commission, which is under "no pressure and working independently," had examined about 100 witnesses so far and visited the compound raided by the US military twice.
The panel has traced the route used by the US helicopters ''that violated Pakistan's sovereignty" and it further intends to question more persons, including journalists, officials and members of various Parliamentary committees, Iqbal said.
In response to a question, Iqbal added that the commission will point out all lapses, including those of the security establishment and any important individual. The report will state if any institution was responsible for any lapses and what action should be taken against it, he said.
"The commission is not here to determine the question of guilt or innocence. Its mandate is to highlight lapses and shortcomings and we will do that."
The panel has also summoned Pakistan's former envoy to the US, Husain Haqqani, to determine whether there has been any "CIA penetration" in Pakistan. The panel will also seek to find out the number of visas that have been issued to American personnel and what their exact duties are in the country, Iqbal said.
In response to a question, Iqbal indicated that members of the commission had received threats but had chosen not to give them any importance. He also added that leaders of all political parties, including Pakistan People's Party chief and President Asif Ali Zardari, had been requested to appear before the commission. However, he noted that President Zardari enjoyed immunity in such matters by virtue of being the President.
Iqbal also said that the commission had also contacted "relevant authorities" to find out about evidence collected from the Abbottabad compound by the US. He said the panel has been informed that this evidence is in Arabic and the US authorities have said it could take over six months to have it translated.
The government has asked the panel to probe how Bin Laden's presence in Pakistan went undetected, and to investigate the circumstances leading up to the 40-minute US operation. The panel will also have to highlight the lapses by various concerned authorities and the reasons for it.