National Security Committee plays big; summons army chief and DG ISI for memogate probe

National Security Committee plays big; summons army chief and DG ISI for memogate probe

Islamabad, Thursday, December 22, 2011: Amidst the memogate case, while trying to play bigger than its size, the National Security Committee has summoned army chief and DG ISI to explain their stance over the issue.

Although the bid to summon both the military high ups on National Security Committee’s platform is a step to dispel the impression that it was relatively weaker or did not have the mandate to take on such crucial issues, it is
yet to be seen whether the military officials abide by the orders or not.

Chaired by Senator Raza Rabbani, the panel also decided to call Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, who is at the heart of the bitter controversy which has engulfed national politics over the past two months.

A couple of the meeting’s participants told media personnel that the panel was unanimous in its view that any individual and institution, irrespective of their power or position, could be summoned.

It was not immediately decided when Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence Ahmed Shuja Pasha should appear before the committee.

The all-party and bicameral panel was assigned by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to investigate the memo allegedly sent to then-top US military commander by Haqqani to seek help against a possible military coup in Pakistan in
May.

Haqqani denied any role in sending the request through Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, whose article in the
Financial Times in October triggered the controversy.

Rabbani told the media that the attorney general had been asked to send the panel all documentation submitted to the Supreme Court by military authorities and Haqqani.

The Supreme Court is holding a parallel investigation into the scandal on several petitions, one of them filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif.

There had been criticism from some quarters that the parliamentary committee did not have technical expertise to probe a case involving criminal investigations. But Rabbani said the panel would go ahead with its investigations,
irrespective of the Supreme Court’s decision.

“Nothing can stop us, we will complete our task, it doesn’t matter who else is doing the same,” he said.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=7035

Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Dec 22 2011. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry