Hussain Haqqani defends civil rule in Pakistan

Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, Hussain Haqqani, resolutely defended civilian rule and efforts to improve relationships with America.

In his article in The Washington Post, the former ambassador rejected claims that he authored the infamous memogate, saying it was illogical to accuse him of being a traitor.

A couple of days ago, the judicial commission constituted by the Supreme Court charged Hussain Haqqani of disloyalty over an unsigned memogate.

According to the report, Hussain Haqqani sent the memo to the then US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, seeking their help to curb Pakistan army in the wake of the American raid that killed Al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden.

Haqqani, however, rejected the report saying that he didn’t author the memogate. He noted, “Branding me a traitor will not solve any of Pakistan’s myriad problems, not least of which is the prospect of international isolation”.

He lamented that anti-Americanism was being exploited to push ideological agendas, but he stood by his views that positive US-Pakistan relations under a civilian-led Pakistani government were necessary for international peace and stability.

Although he denied his involvement in authoring the controversial memo, he was of the opinion that its contents suggested changes in the country’s counter-terrorism and nuclear policies that are not treasonous at all.

He further stated, “Few considered that Pakistan was pledged record amounts of US aid and that Pakistani views were being heard on a range of issues. The expectation that Washington should simply do whatever the Pakistani hyper-nationalists desire remains unrealistic”.

According to the infamous memo, Pakistani security establishment has long been the most powerful institution in the country and President Asif Ali Zardari feared that the military would seize power to limit the fallout after US forces managed to kill Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, the garrison town of the country.

Earlier, Haqqani launched a veiled attack on the judiciary claiming the findings were made public to divert the attention from more embarrassing developments in the country.

He claimed that the entire proceedings reflected the political machination of ideological elements including the judiciary and had little to do with fact finding.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=25870

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jun 15 2012. Filed under National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.