Husain Haqqani joins US lobbying firm

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani has joined the private government relations and lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates as a Senior Advisor.

A press release issued by Cassidy & Associates says that Haqqani’s appointment is a significant step in ensuring “the firm’s clients are protected and connected around the world.”

“Ambassador Haqqani will play an invaluable role as our team engages corporations, government entities, and foreign sovereigns. Time and again we confront global situations on behalf of clients when having the experience and perspective of a senior member of the diplomatic corps can be the difference between success and failure,” said the firm’s chairman Gerald Cassidy in the press release.

The press release said Haqqani's current occupation is Professor of International Relations at the Boston University and a co-chair at the Hudson Institute’s Project on the Future of the Muslim World.

It is worth mentioning that Cassidy & Associates were hired by the Embassy of Pakistan to serve as lobbyists for the Government of Pakistan between July 2009 and August 2010. According to disclosure forms filed at the US House website, the firm was paid $360,000 for their services during that period, which included lobbying on Pakistan’s behalf in the US House, Senate and State Department.

Last year, The Hill, a newspaper and website that covers Congress, reported that the Pakistani Embassy had hired Cassidy & Associates in October 2007 on a yearlong $1.2 million contract, which was withdrawn by the firm after then President General Musharraf declared emergency rule.

Haqqani served as Pakistan’s ambassador between 2008 and 2011. He resigned his post last year after being accused of having authored a controversial memo that asked US officials to help avert a coup in Pakistan and remove Pakistan’s top military and intelligence leaders from their post by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz.