Memogate scandal: Probe panel summons Haqqani on March 26

Calls for JKLF leader to present evidence if he wants to become a party.

ISLAMABAD: Memogate scandal whistleblower Mansoor Ijaz was once again at the centre of attention during Sunday’s proceedings of the commission investigating the matter. But he will soon hand over the hot seat to former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani.

The commission has summoned Haqqani to Islamabad on March 26 to start his own innings. Haqqani had requested that he be provided the same opportunity as Ijaz to record his statement and cross examination from Pakistan’s High Commission in London via video link. He cited his heart condition and his new job in the US as the reasons.

The former envoy, however, was not as lucky as Ijaz, and has his request turned down by the commission. Now, Ijaz has been exempted from appearing before the commission in person, unless he is directed to.

The commission also decided to provide a last opportunity for Haqqani and his counsel Zahid Bukhari to either submit an admission or denial of the evidence provided by Ijaz regarding the memo.

If Haqqani denies the evidence, then the commission will task the panel’s secretary, Raja Jawad Abbas, to look into hiring forensic experts who can examine his BlackBerry device.

The first person to cross-examine Ijaz was Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Maulvi Anwarul Haq, who asked him about a David  J Frum from CNN, who Ijaz acknowledged had actively written against him. Ijaz then quickly deflected any possible criticism which could be cited from an article by Frum, saying that his legal team had asked him to retract his remarks or face legal action for defamation.

The AGP also suggested that the contents of the memo were almost identical to those in an article Ijaz wrote for the Washington Post on May 6, 2011. Ijaz also denied this charge, calling for proof, point by point, of the AGP’s allegation.

Meeting President Zardari

AGP Haq, however was determined – and said that Ijaz’s claim of meeting President Asif Ali Zardari on May 5, 2009 was incorrect. Ijaz, no less determined, said that he could prove the meeting through his airline ticket from the date, as well as SMS and emails exchanged between him and Haqqani. He added that he not only met the president, but his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in the lobby of the hotel where the meeting was scheduled, as well.

Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman of Pakistani origin, was also keen to point out that he had a positive role to play in proceedings. “I felt the need to redress the grievance of people who have no voice,” he said referring to the people of Pakistan. It was apparent that he also felt like a victim – he added that he had no interest in the memo personally, and had simply been helping his friend, Haqqani even though it ended up with him receiving death threats.

OBL raid

The commission’s chairman, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, then cross-examined Ijaz.

Referring to Ijaz’s own role in the memo, Justice Isa questioned him about the army’s power to attempt a coup in the aftermath of the May 2 Abbottabad raid, and how Haqqani’s alleged statements were not shocking to him in this context.

Ijaz, however, was of the opinion that if the raid could take place without the knowledge of the army or the Inter-Services Intelligence, then Haqqani’s claims could very well be realistic. He also said that he believed that a coup was likely after the events of May 2, because of the rift between the civilian leadership and military establishment.

Haqqani vs Army

Justice Isa, however, remained unsatisfied and asked Ijaz why it was not sufficient to simply convey the message to the US government if he was of the belief that a coup was imminent as Haqqani had allegedly told him it was.

Going around the question, Ijaz said Haqqani had offered him little information and merely said that if the US was willing to intervene against the army, the returning benefits to Washington were mentioned in the memo. He also gave the ISI and army chiefs a free slate, saying that Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha was an honourable man, and that both wanted the civilian government to complete its tenure.

Haqqani, however, was not let off the hook by Ijaz, who said that the former envoy had ‘orchestrated’ an initial denial from former US admiral Mike Mullen’s office regarding receiving the memo, absolving Mullen’s office of any responsibility.

JKLF angle

At this juncture the commission ended its cross examination and allowed the wife of Chairman Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik to present her case. Mushal Malik said that her husband had insisted that he wanted to assist the commission and must be provided an opportunity to clear his name. Ijaz had earlier alleged that Malik had met the chief of India’s spy agency RAW, on the insistence of Washington.

Ijaz’s counsel, Akram Sheikh, warned that Malik’s request was a “deliberately designed move to trap the commission”.

The commission, however, did not entertain the application of Mushal, and asked her to ask Malik to first provide evidence of his claims before the commission decided whether he would be allowed to become a party to the case.

Later the proceedings were adjourned till March 26.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2012.