MQM in 1990: Altaf denies taking money to knock PPP over
Says that former ISI chief’s list of accused cited a journalist of the same name.
KARACHI:
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain denied that he ever took money from the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) as ‘some have reportedly claimed.’
A statement issued by the MQM quoted a spokesperson, who termed any such allegation a ‘lie of the century.’ The spokesperson alleged that while the ISI had sent Hussain a sum of money via Brigadier Hamid Gul in 1990 at the time of general elections, Hussain had refused the amount and the witnesses to this are Gul and the then-army chief General Aslam Beg.
The statement also notes that the list of politicians and journalists who took money from the ISI, which was prepared by the then ISI chief Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, did not include Hussain’s name.
The list, Hussain said, is part of the National Assembly and Supreme Court of Pakistan records. The statement also alleged that in 1988, Brigadier Imtiaz approached Hussain with a sum of money, but the MQM chief refused it at the time as well.
The statement says that Hussain’s ‘biggest crime’ was that he had not “sold his conscience to government agencies.” According to the MQM, in 1996 the then-interior minister Naseerullah Babar presented Durrani’s list to the National Assembly, which did not have Hussain’s name, but of a journalist called Altaf Hussain Qureshi.
The statement from the MQM comes on the heels of the announcement that the Supreme Court will be hearing Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan’s petition on February 29. The petition, which was filed in 1996, alleges that the ISI distributed money to politicians to create an alliance called the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad in 1990.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2012.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain denied that he ever took money from the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) as ‘some have reportedly claimed.’
A statement issued by the MQM quoted a spokesperson, who termed any such allegation a ‘lie of the century.’ The spokesperson alleged that while the ISI had sent Hussain a sum of money via Brigadier Hamid Gul in 1990 at the time of general elections, Hussain had refused the amount and the witnesses to this are Gul and the then-army chief General Aslam Beg.
The statement also notes that the list of politicians and journalists who took money from the ISI, which was prepared by the then ISI chief Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, did not include Hussain’s name.
The list, Hussain said, is part of the National Assembly and Supreme Court of Pakistan records. The statement also alleged that in 1988, Brigadier Imtiaz approached Hussain with a sum of money, but the MQM chief refused it at the time as well.
The statement says that Hussain’s ‘biggest crime’ was that he had not “sold his conscience to government agencies.” According to the MQM, in 1996 the then-interior minister Naseerullah Babar presented Durrani’s list to the National Assembly, which did not have Hussain’s name, but of a journalist called Altaf Hussain Qureshi.
The statement from the MQM comes on the heels of the announcement that the Supreme Court will be hearing Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan’s petition on February 29. The petition, which was filed in 1996, alleges that the ISI distributed money to politicians to create an alliance called the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad in 1990.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2012.