Pakistan Govt terms memo a piece of paper

Attorney General of Pakistan on Tuesday said that a memo allegedly written to former US army chief seeking US support to avert a military takeover was just a piece of paper. He told a nine-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry hearing the Memogate scandal case. A Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz had claimed that he was asked by former Pakistani ambassador to US Husain Haqqani to deliver the memo to Mike Mullen, the former US military chief, seeking US support to avert a military takeover following the killing of Osama bin Laden in May. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and others have filed petition in the court seeking an inquiry over leaked memo controversy. Attorney General Maulvi Anwar-ul-Haq submitted before the court that the government was “not interested in solving the Memogate issue” adding the memo scandal is a political matter and should be looked into in the same way. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked if it was just a piece of paper, then why former Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani had to resign and why Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani made a parliamentary committee to probe into the matter. Chief Justice observed that he had asked President Asif Ali Zardari to submit his reply in the memogate scandal, but he had ‘chosen not to’. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has also submitted a reply to the court regarding Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Babar Awan’s press conference. In the reply, the prime minister said that the press conference by leaders of his party was not meant to offend the apex court or its judges, and can not be taken as contempt. The Chief Justice had said that the press conference was very significant in this case. Asma Jahangir, counsel of Hussain Haqqani said that holding Haqqani guilty on the basis of his resignation is hurting his privilege, as he is innocent until his culpability is proved. ‘Media is proving my client as guilty,’ she added. Jahangir questioned as to who delegated power to the chief of a secret agency to institute an inquiry against its government. The court adjourned the hearing of the memo case till Wednesday. Earlier army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and DG Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha had filed their statements in the court terming the memo a reality. The generals insist that the memo need to be thoroughly investigated.