Pak Army moots the alleged federal government takeover

Pak Army moots the alleged federal government takeover

Pakistan’s military has been forced to issue an extraordinary public denial that it was plotting against the country’s beleaguered president in the days after Osama bin Laden was shot dead.

The generals have seized power three times in the country’s short history and there is intense speculation that they are ready to move again.

President Asif Ali Zardari, 56, returned this week from Dubai where he was treated for a condition related to high blood pressure, but many suspect he is feeling the strain of running a country in the constant grip of economic, political and security crises.

But as he arrived home in Islamabad, the military was denying allegations that the Director General (DG) of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency contacted Arab states in May seeking permission for a military coup.

"It is clarified that DG ISI did not meet any Arab leader between 1-9 May 2011 as mentioned in the article. DG ISI’s other visits to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE only, prior to or after this period, were part of routine intelligence sharing activity,
during which he interacted with his counterparts only." The allegation was purportedly made by Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman, in a Blackberry Messenger message sent to Husain Haqqani, the former Pakistani ambassador to Washington.

Mr Ijaz has already raised tensions between the civilian government and the military with claims that Mr Haqqani asked him to send a memo to US officials for help in staving off a coup in the days after the raid that killed bin Laden.

While Mr Zardari has been written off many times before, many analysts believe he may be unable to escape the fallout from the "memogate" affair.

He has been asked to provide an account of his involvement to the Supreme Court.

Yesterday, a military source said many officers were ready for a change – but only through legal means rather than a coup.

"Who isn’t fed up with Zardari? It’s not just the opposition and the man on the street but people within the government too," the source told Reuters.

The sense of crisis was not eased by Mr Zardari’s Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, who stunned a gathering at the National Arts Gallery by suggesting the government’s days were numbered.

"I want to make it clear today those conspiracies are being hatched here to pack up the elected government," he said.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=7017

Posted by Ahmer Gul Khan on Dec 22 2011. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry