Ijaz shares phone data with commission

Requests that the body Haqqani to waive privacy rights for full access.

ISLAMABAD:
The man who apparently holds all the evidence linking Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US to Memogate has upped the ante in the scandal investigations.

Mansoor Ijaz, who delivered the controversial memo to the then US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen through former US national security adviser Gen James Jones – apparently at the behest of Husain Haqqani – on Friday agreed to place before a court-mandated judicial commission all the conversations he had with Haqqani.

He also submitted the personal identification (PIN) details of the BlackBerry devices he used to communicate with Haqqani – as well as the details of the devices allegedly used by the former ambassador.

Ijaz has called out the ambassador to prove his innocence before the three-member commission, headed by Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

Waiving his privacy rights, which may be a stumbling block in obtaining key data from mobile service provider Research in Motion (RIM), Ijaz also asked the commission to get Haqqani to do the same.

Ijaz submitted this in his application through his counsel Advocate Akram Sheikh to the secretary of judicial commission Raja Jawwad Abbas Hassan. He informed the commission, though his counsel, that, after receiving Supreme Court’s order, he had already sent a notice to RIM surrendering his privacy rights in favour of the commission.

Ijaz seems keen on helping the commission bypass all potential delays given the short time span it has to complete investigations.


He drew out all the people the court needs to contact to request BlackBerry for the data of communication between him and Haqqani.

First, he appealed to the commission to send a forensic specialist to visit the two server sites of RIM one in Berkshire UK and second in Irving, Texas USA.

He also requested the commission to direct the concerned authorities in Pakistan to contact the chief legal officer of RIM and the heads of the European and USA divisions of RIM where the servers are located, within one week after January 9, to officially request for the data.

As for personally appearing before the commission, Ijaz asked it to direct the Pakistani High Commission in London to issue a visa immediately – and also asked for the commission to ensure that he be provided adequate security.

He informed the commission that forensic specialist of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) will not be able to complete his task of obtaining data from RIM’s offices before January 16 – therefore, he will be available to the commission from 16 to 20 January.

He said that he is also willing to submit his handsets to the forensic specialist appointed by the commission for forensic investigation. The next sitting of the commission is on January 9.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2012.
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