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Pakistan Commission Questions Bin Laden's Family


In this May 2011 file photo, Pakistani men walk next to the house where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was caught and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan. (file photo)
In this May 2011 file photo, Pakistani men walk next to the house where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was caught and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan. (file photo)

A Pakistani commission probing the killing of Osama bin Laden says it has questioned the al-Qaida leader's family members.

Three of the al-Qaida leader's wives and several children have been in Pakistani custody since U.S. special forces killed bin Laden on May 2 in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad.

On Wednesday, the panel investigating the U.S. raid said it interviewed bin Laden's widows and children on Tuesday.

The commission also said it questioned a Pakistani doctor, Dr. Shakeel Afridi, who is accused of running a fake vaccination campaign to help U.S. intelligence obtain DNA samples of bin Laden and his family.

Pakistani intelligence chief, Ahmad Shuja Pasha, also was being questioned by the panel.

The Pakistani government set up the Abbottabad commission amid public anger over the raid. It is tasked with investigating how U.S. forces managed to track down the al-Qaida leader and carry out the operation in the garrison town of Abbottabad without Pakistan's prior knowledge. The panel also is focusing on how bin Laden was able to hide out in Pakistan for several years without being detected.

In July, the commission barred bin Laden's wives and children from leaving the country.

The panel is headed by a Pakistani Supreme Court judge.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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