Non-appearance: SC warns Haqqani of passport cancellation

Haqqani is paranoid of the prevalent security threats in Pakistan: Lawyer

ISLAMABAD:

Hussain Haqqani, the former Pakistani ambassador to United States, has expressed total mistrust in the government and said he will not come back to Pakistan despite assurances of foolproof security.   

“Haqqani is paranoid of the prevalent security threats in Pakistan and has conveyed to me that he is not returning to Pakistan,” his lawyer Asma Jahangir told a nine-member bench of the Supreme Court on Monday at the resumption of the Memogate hearing.

She said she was satisfied with the steps proposed by the federal government over his security concerns and conveyed the message to Haqqani.

Earlier, Attorney General of Pakistan Irfan Qadir said the federal interior secretary had assured him and Jahangir that VVIP level security would be provided to the former ambassador if he returned to Pakistan.

“If Haqqani does not return as he has filed an undertaking in the Supreme Court, the coercive measures provided in the law will be resorted to, such as cancellation of the passport,” observed Chaudhry.

Giving Haqqani three weeks in which to appear before the court, the bench adjourned the hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2013.