Veiled threat: ‘If requested, Ijaz could be put on ECL’
Rehman Malik warned that the government will put Ijaz’s name on the Exit Control List, if requested by PCNS.
ISLAMABAD:
While a defiant Mansoor Ijaz insisted that nothing would stop him from entering Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik warned that the government will put Ijaz’s name on the Exit Control List, if requested by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.
On Monday, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) summoned the Memogate protagonist to appear before it on January 26 to probe the controversial memo – and it doesn’t look as if Ijaz is any mood to oblige.
But the interior minister said the government has options in this regard.
“I will issue an order to put Ijaz’s name on the ECL if PCNS wishes to do so,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, Ijaz said that he was not afraid any threats and that ‘nothing could stop’ him from visiting Pakistan.
In an interview with Indian TV channel NDTV, the businessman said that he would bring his BlackBerry devices to Pakistan and make them available to the commission probing the scandal.
“I am coming. I am going to tell the truth. I am going to put the truth on the record forcefully, and I am going to make sure that the people of Pakistan, finally, are able to hold their government accountable for the actions that they take in their name,” Ijaz said.
In response to Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s warning of arresting Ijaz on his arrival, he said that Malik does not even know the facts and had been sending “veiled threats” to him through different statements.
“Malik is someone, I believe, who is prone to make statements of such exaggeration, that he doesn’t even understand what the facts are,” he added.
Ijaz further said that it would be fair to assume that he would arrive in Pakistan before January 26.
In response to the latest development, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) Senator Raza Rabbani said he would speak on the issue through the committee.
Rabbani was commenting on a statement by Ijaz’s counsel Akram Sheikh that the PCNS could not summon his client because he is an American citizen.
Former interior minister Aftab Sherpao, also a member of the committee, said Ijaz should assist committee members to enable them to uncover the truth.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz has requested for permission to attend the January 26 committee meeting in order to ‘question’ Ijaz.
Riaz’s close friends told The Express Tribune that he will question Ijaz about his alleged role in toppling former premier Benazir Bhutto’s government in 1997 and the reasons behind his alleged close association with Pakistani intelligent agencies.
“Raja Riaz wanted to appear before the committee to question Ijaz,” confirmed the interior minister.
(ADDITIONAL INPUT BY NEWS DESK)
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2012.
While a defiant Mansoor Ijaz insisted that nothing would stop him from entering Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik warned that the government will put Ijaz’s name on the Exit Control List, if requested by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.
On Monday, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) summoned the Memogate protagonist to appear before it on January 26 to probe the controversial memo – and it doesn’t look as if Ijaz is any mood to oblige.
But the interior minister said the government has options in this regard.
“I will issue an order to put Ijaz’s name on the ECL if PCNS wishes to do so,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, Ijaz said that he was not afraid any threats and that ‘nothing could stop’ him from visiting Pakistan.
In an interview with Indian TV channel NDTV, the businessman said that he would bring his BlackBerry devices to Pakistan and make them available to the commission probing the scandal.
“I am coming. I am going to tell the truth. I am going to put the truth on the record forcefully, and I am going to make sure that the people of Pakistan, finally, are able to hold their government accountable for the actions that they take in their name,” Ijaz said.
In response to Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s warning of arresting Ijaz on his arrival, he said that Malik does not even know the facts and had been sending “veiled threats” to him through different statements.
“Malik is someone, I believe, who is prone to make statements of such exaggeration, that he doesn’t even understand what the facts are,” he added.
Ijaz further said that it would be fair to assume that he would arrive in Pakistan before January 26.
In response to the latest development, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) Senator Raza Rabbani said he would speak on the issue through the committee.
Rabbani was commenting on a statement by Ijaz’s counsel Akram Sheikh that the PCNS could not summon his client because he is an American citizen.
Former interior minister Aftab Sherpao, also a member of the committee, said Ijaz should assist committee members to enable them to uncover the truth.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz has requested for permission to attend the January 26 committee meeting in order to ‘question’ Ijaz.
Riaz’s close friends told The Express Tribune that he will question Ijaz about his alleged role in toppling former premier Benazir Bhutto’s government in 1997 and the reasons behind his alleged close association with Pakistani intelligent agencies.
“Raja Riaz wanted to appear before the committee to question Ijaz,” confirmed the interior minister.
(ADDITIONAL INPUT BY NEWS DESK)
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2012.