Abbottabad commission's report never went missing: Pervaiz Rashid
15 July, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid has categorically denied media reports that the Abbottabad commission's report had gone missing from the Prime Minister's Office, saying the report was in the safe custody of the government.
"The original report is in the safe possession of the government and no unauthorised person can have access to the document," he told APP.
"The report has neither disappeared nor got leaked from the PM's Office," the minister clarified.
He said that media reports and comments were based on unauthentic, incomplete and distorted version of the report.
To a question on the possibility of the official release of the report, the minister said that the former prime minister had set up a committee on February 1, headed by then law minister, with the foreign and defence ministers as members, to decide about the complete or partial release of the report.
"The committee was also mandated to decide whether the report should be made public at all. However, the government's tenure concluded on March 16, 2013 and the findings of the committee had not been finalised by that time."
The minister said the present government was looking into the matter and would make a decision on whether to release the report in national interest.
Pervaiz Rashid urged the media not to jump to conclusions and wait for the release of the authentic version of the report to make any analysis or judgement.
Meanwhile, Pervaiz Rashid said on Sunday that the government wanted to address the issues related to energy, economy and security on a priority basis.
In an interview, the minister hoped that the agreements signed with China during the recent visit of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the neighbouring country would be a "turning point" for Pakistan's economy.
He said the PML- N government favoured talks with the Taliban for peace in the country and the region. "If talks can be held with Taliban in Doha, why they cannot be held in Islamabad?" he said.
The minister said that the government was fully convinced that talks were the best course to address all concerns and reservations of the respective parties. He said even after war, the adversaries have to sit across the table for negotiations to settle their disputes.
About drone attacks, he said the government wants to settle this issue with the United States through a dialogue. He said the Foreign Office is also in contact with the United States on this issue.
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