WASHINGTON: Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed, member of the Pakistani board of
inquiry into the US raid in Abbotabad, says the CIA’s use of a fake
polio vaccination program during the hunt for slain Al Qaeda chief
Osama bin Laden represented a "breach of trust" between the US and
Pakistan’s government.
General Nadeem Ahmed said this in an
interview with 774 ABC Melbourne’s Jon Faine that the CIA’s undermining
of people’s trust was "unfortunate".
Bin Laden was killed when US special forces attacked his compound in a secret raid in May.
It
has since been reported the CIA used a fake international polio
eradication program as a front to track the fugitive terrorist leader
down in the city of Abbottabad.
Reports say the vaccinations
were offered in Abbotabad and then DNA from the program was checked to
see if any of bin Laden’s family members were present in the town.
"No
intelligence agencies are supposed to be using NGOs [non-government
organisations] or implementing partners to get some information," he
said.
"This is principally, morally, legally incorrect.
"If
somebody’s hearing, I will strongly recommend please do not undermine
the confidence that the government of Pakistan, or for that matter any
national government, has on you, because there is a trust between you
and the government."
General Ahmed, the former head of the
Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority, said the inquiry into
the raid had begun, but was reluctant to divulge details.
"We have just started," he said of the inquiry.
"We
have had two sessions. The first session we looked at and decided on
the modalities, [such as] how we want to proceed with [those who] are
going to be called as witnesses.
"I don’t want to go into the details because it’s all confidential."
General
Ahmed did confirm air force witnesses had been spoken to and that the
inquiry would move onto talking to the military, army, the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), civilians and the US.
General
Ahmed says US officials have not been asked if they will cooperate, but
if they choose not to then the inquiry will put on record the fact that
they refused to comment.
"We will do our utmost best to find
out the details, and I think there are sufficient details available
within the country," he said. "I think the embarrassment part has
already happened.
"The army and the ISI [were] ridiculed by
everyone and by the civil society, by the media, by the people on the
street, because all of them were disappointed. They never expected this
thing to happen.
"But I think, after seeing the initial
reaction of the different stakeholders, and what has happened
thereafter, people see a clear design - responsible people in the
military in the US coming up and saying silly things, then the
deliberate leaks in the US media, saying things which are not correct.
"So everybody has started to now understand that there is a deliberate design to undermine the security establishment.
"And
therefore I can see they have closed ranks with the security
establishment now. So I think it is was overcooked, overdone." General
Ahmed said he did not think anyone from the ISI would have sheltered
bin Laden.
"[When all is] said and done [the] government, army,
ISI are not irresponsible people, they would never do such a stupid
thing which would show them in such a bad light," he said.
"Irrespective
of the USA, I have absolutely not an iota of doubt on this, that no
government in Pakistan, no military in Pakistan, no intelligence
organisation in Pakistan would do such a stupid thing. Online
