Parliamentary panel to probe memogate

The parliamentary committee on national security will probe the secret memo scandal and interrogate Hussain Haqqani, former ambassador to the United States, the government has announced. Haqqani will not be allowed to leave the country until the committee, headed by Senator Raza Rabbani of the Pakistan People's Party, finishes investigating, a deputy attorney-general of the federal government told the Lahore High Court (LHC). The law officer appeared before Justice Omar Ata Bandial in Lahore on Monday in connection with a petition seeking to place Haqqani's name on the government's exit control list. The officer said there was no need to place the former ambassador's name on the list. The judge adjourned the hearing on the petition to December 9. The petitioner accused Haqqani of sending a memo to former US military chief Mike Mullen through Mansour Ejaz, a US businessman of Pakistan origin, in May seeking US help to avert a military takeover in the country after the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Haqqani resigned earlier this month after he was summoned to Islamabad by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to explain the charges against him. Former information minister Sherry Rehman replaced Haqqani as Ambassador to the United States.