Pak panel on Osama bin laden submits report to PM

A judicial commission that probed world's most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden's presence in Pakistan submitted its report on Thursday to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf though the findings of the panel were not made public.

Members of the commission, headed by former supreme court judge Javed Iqbal, called on Ashraf at the prime minister's house and submitted the report, an official statement said.

"During the meeting, Justice Javed Iqbal briefed the prime minister on the salient features of the report prepared by the commission," the statement said without giving details.

The government did not say whether the findings of the commission will be made public.

The panel missed several deadlines set by the government for submitting its report, giving rise to speculation that the security establishment was not keen on the emergence of embarrassing issues related to bin Laden's presence in Pakistan and the unilateral United States raid that killed him in the garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2, 2011.

However, the official statement said the premier 'appreciated the efforts and hard work of the chairman and his team in the compilation' of the commission's report.The government had asked the commission, which included retired army officers and diplomats, to probe how bin Laden's presence in Pakistan went undetected, the circumstances surrounding the 40-minute US operation and the nature and causes of lapses by military authorities.

The government set up the panel shortly after the US raid against bin Laden, which caused considerable embarrassment for the powerful military establishment. The panel conducted its own investigations, examined witnesses including former ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha and visited bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad before it was demolished last year.

Media reports said some members of the commission were opposed to making its report public.