Top Military brass of Pakistan Army during a joint in camera session of the parliament on Friday is trying its level best to answer all questions of the legislators who wanted each and every aspect of the US covet operation to be discussed and answered there and then.
The session which started at 3pm Islamabad local time was still on for the past eight hours during with the DG ISI Ahmed Shuja Pasha even offered his resignation, if the parliamentarians wish to. Since the media is not allowed to attend the session the information so far is very sketchy however, the duration of the question answer session which continuing for the last five hours speak volumes of the importance of this session where all 440 members of the parliament keen to seek necessary answers from the military leadership.
Pasha mentioned ISI’s efforts in war against terror and that the Al Qaeda network had been destroyed before the Abbottabad operation.
Lt General Shuja Pasha said terrorist attacks had also taken place in US and India but no fingers were pointed at the intelligence agencies of the two countries.
He called upon the legislators not to abandon the army at this critical juncture as he believed that some elements are using this episode to drive a wedge between the government and military.
Pakistan Air Force’s deputy said the helicopters that the Americans used stealth helicopters which couldn’t be detected by the radars.
PM Gilani had reiterated, at the beginning of the closed door session, that the government will address all reservations and issues of parliamentarians over the operation, assuring them that Pakistan’s sovereignty won’t be compromised.
The Prime Minister asserted that the PPP government had never by-passed parliament on national security issues and that the nation must have faith in the government and national institutions.
Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ISI Chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha and Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Sulaiman were to brief the joint session, followed by a question and answer session.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif did not attend the in-camera session.
Pakistan’s has been tarnished following the May 2 operation by the US Special Forces and within hours the Western media had initiated a media trial of this country which has had the biggest stake in the ongoing was on terror since the strategically located nuclear-power signed Geneva Accord in 1986.
The recent figures show that about 5000 members of the military or paramilitary forces lost their lives in war against terror in addition to 30,000 civilian deaths and the deteriorating law and order situation has brought the national economy to its knees, but the Western propaganda still on against Pakistan.
The coming days will determine how the US and Pakistan would go along on this tedious way of fighting extremism or weeding out Talbans from the ranks and files of this society. Analysts say the way US kept the Pakistan in dark on the Abbottabad operation, there is hardly anything left for diplomacy to repair the damage to bilateral relations in these very delicate and difficult times for both US and once its closest ally Pakistan.