joint “in-camera” session of parliament on Friday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the US’ unilateral action in Abbottabad in violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, calling upon the government to revisit and review its terms of engagement with the US, as in an unprecedented development in the military-dominated history of Pakistan, ISI DG Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha volunteered to resign by “surrendering” himself before parliament in what Information Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan described as “accountability” for the intelligence failure to detect the presence of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad for five years.
Though the ISI DG, while briefing the joint session of parliament that was turned into a special committee, submitted himself before the elected representatives saying that he was ready for accountability at any level, the military top brass skilfully turned the situation in their favour, throwing the ball into the court of the political leadership to take a decision and formulate a national security policy, which would be implemented by the armed forces.
“The ISI DG surrendered himself before parliament for a major intelligence failure and said he was ready for accountability at any level,” Awan told reporters after a briefing by representatives of the country’s security establishment to MPs that lasted two and a half hours. The briefing was followed by a long and hectic question-answer session that concluded around 1:30am on Saturday. “The ISI DG also offered to resign when the PML-N members pressed for fixing responsibility after the ISI’s admission of intelligence failure,” the PML-Q’s Riaz Fatyana told reporters outside Parliament House. Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Khalid Shamim Wyne, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) and other senior officials, including the defence secretary, attended the briefing. A source told Pakistan Today that when the defence secretary came to the rostrum to brief the MPs, PML-N members began shouting and demanded that the ISI DG brief them. “When the ISI is accepting and admitting its failure, then responsibility should also be fixed,” a source quoted Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar as saying. Upon this, said the source, Lt General Pasha volunteered to resign.
When Nisar said that the ISI DG talked politics, Pasha replied: “I too have complaints against you but this is not the day to make complaints. I don’t want to continue sticking to my position,” Fatyana quoted Pasha as responding to Nisar’s demands of fixing responsibility. “If the PM wants me to resign, I am ready to leave here a retired officer… I accept the responsibility and apologise if any negligence is established,” Pasha was quoted as saying. Though no MP asked the ISI DG to resign, Fatyana said the general told the parliamentarians that he had wanted to resign but the army chief asked him not to. Fatyana said that when the PML-N criticised the ISI and army for ignoring parliament while making policies on important issues, the military leadership asked the MPs to revise the policy on
ties with the US and the anti-terrorism campaign and said they would be ready to follow the changes, if any, suggested by parliament. A source told Pakistan Today that during the session, Nisar not only locked horns with the ISI DG but also with PML-Q President Shujaat Hussain when he tried to take the floor and speak after the PM. The PML-N and PML-Q members shouted and raised slogans of “shame, shame” against each other following the incident. He said the ISI DG made it clear that national security was supreme and Pakistan could not, and would not, do what the US wanted. The PML-N’s estranged member Javed Hashmi, however, took a soft line and said: “The army has committed many mistakes but we forgive you.” He asked the ISI DG to share his responsibilities with the politicians. “You have too many responsibilities, share some of them with us,” Hashmi asked Pasha.
The source said the situation turned tense when the JUI-F members, like the PML-N parliamentarians, also got worked up and asked the ISI DG pointed questions. “Who had sponsored and financed the Taliban, you or us?” the JUI-F’s Attaur Rehman asked the ISI DG, who responded: “Let’s not indulge in a blame game, the country needs unity… the country is faced with a difficult situation and you are still in a divisive mood.” The JUI-F members staged a token walkout in protest against the reply.
Quoting the ISI DG, the information minister said a joint action to kill Osama bin Laden had already been planned and agreed to between the US and Pakistani forces, but the US took unilateral action, keeping Pakistan in the dark. “It’s not the time to leave the armed forces and the intelligence agencies in a difficult situation,” the minister said, suggesting that the government would not withdraw its support for the armed forces despite the opposition, particularly the PML-N, taking a tough stand. “The May 2 US action raised many questions… we always shared Osama-related information with the CIA… when the US helicopters were in action, the US fighter aircraft were also airborne in Afghanistan and had we reacted, Pakistan would have suffered a huge loss as the US aircraft would retaliate,” Awan said. She said it was a time for the opposition to act wisely. “There are no difference between the armed forces and the government… the nation should boost the morale of the armed forces,” she said.
Quoting the ISI DG further, she said the ISI had restricted Osama’s movement and it acted against all his associates and killing Osama was a common goal of the ISI and the CIA. “We provided initial information about Osama to the CIA… our nuclear assets are safe… the enemies of the country were out to attack national unity… the situation requires unity and synergy among all institutions… the ISI-CIA relations are strained,” she quoted the ISI DG as saying. The minister also quoted the deputy air chief as telling the MPs that within moments of the beginning of the US operation, Pakistan made an attempt to intercept the US forces but the attempt was aborted as the missile-laden US choppers were airborne inside Afghan airspace and could cause damage to Pakistan. The minister said no country had the technology to match the US. “The deputy air chief said the radars were very much functional but could not detect the US stealth helicopters because of the advanced technology used by the Americans,” she told reporters.
When a member asked the deputy air chief when the drone attacks would stop, he turned to the PM and said: “When we will be asked to stop them, we will stop them.” But, the source said, the PM remained silent. The deputy air chief told the parliament that most Pakistani radars had been deployed at the country’s borders with India, including those which could detect the flights at an altitude of 10,000 feet and above while some of the radars could detect the flights even below an altitude of 5,000 feet. The deputy air chief was quoted as telling the MPs that Pakistan was not expecting the US choppers’ intrusion from the western border.
The source said the MPs asked about the use of Shamsi airbase by the US forces and were told that this airbase was under the control of the United Arab Emirates, on lease to the Gulf nation since the 1990s. “It’s a large area of 240 acres of land given on lease to the UAE and the Shamsi air base also comes in that area,” the deputy air chief said, adding that this airbase was now being used by the Americans.
The source said the ISI DG confirmed that Osama’s family was in Pakistan’s custody but no MP asked about proof to establish Osama’s death and the armed forces officials did not share details either. “The Pakistan Military Academy guards were the first to know about the crash of the helicopter and the army chief was informed at 2.05am, by which time the helicopters had left Pakistani airspace,” the source said, contradicting what the information minister had earlier told reporters.
Another source said the ISI DG told the MPs that the armed forces were ready to thwart and give a matching response in case India took advantage of any situation and attacked Pakistan. “In case of any aggression, we will give a befitting response to India,” he quoted the ISI DG as saying.
Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi, who presided over the session, did not act neutrally as he was seen trying to defend the government. “When former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi questioned as to why the rulers supported the US operation, the deputy speaker snubbed him and termed his query irrelevant,” the source said.
The ISI DG was also quoted as telling the parliamentarians that Osama’s wife had told investigators that the US SEALs had killed her husband and taken with them his body. “If the US again acted in this way, we will resist and retaliate… we are fully prepared and ready but the decision has to be taken by the government,” the ISI DG said. When asked what caused differences between Pakistan and the US, the ISI DG was quoted as saying that it was a principled position of Pakistan that any action on Pakistani soil would be taken by Pakistan’s armed forces while the US wanted to dictate its own terms.
Meanwhile, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif forbade Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif from attending the in-camera briefing. Nawaz himself had declined the invitation as well and also kept his brother from attending. Sharif had been invited as a guest, since he is not a member of the National Assembly. The session was held amid extremely tight security, with all roads leading to Parliament House closed since morning and only those people allowed to enter the area whose offices were located in the vicinity and had their official cards on them.
Parliamentarians, however, rendered the in-camera provision of the session absolutely moot when they shared details of the proceedings with the media. The term “in-camera” means that a session is not open to observers, visitors or other “outsiders”, but ironically news started pouring out of Parliament House as soon as the joint session started, thanks to several parliamentarians under oath.
Most of the details of the in-camera session appeared on television screens almost instantly, giving justification to the military for its hesitance to share information with the civilian leadership of the country, particularly when it comes to sensitive issues.