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India-Pakistan
Memo scandal witness refuses to travel to Pakistan
2012-01-24
ISLAMABAD: The chief witness in a secret memo scandal that threatens to bring down the president will not travel to Pakistan to testify, claiming the government has set a trap to kill him prevent him from leaving, his lawyer said Monday.

Mansoor Ijaz offered to record his testimony and submit it to a Supreme Court commission that is investigating the scandal, said lawyer Akram Sheikh. Ijaz, a US citizen of Pakistani origin, was scheduled to travel to Pakistan to appear before the commission on Tuesday but had bickered with the government over who would guarantee his safety.
Safety being more than an academic issue in Pakistain...
Ijaz has accused the Pakistani government of orchestrating a memo, which he delivered to the US last year, asking Washington to help stop a supposed military coup following the American raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. The Pakistani government has denied any involvement.

The army was outraged by the memo and denied it ever intended to carry out a coup. It successfully pushed the Supreme Court to investigate against the wishes of the government, which said the matter was already being probed by the parliament.
No doubt the Pak government learned all about 'independent inspector generals' from Eric Holder...
Ijaz has claimed the Supreme Court commission ordered the military to guarantee his security while in Pakistan, but the government has said the job was the responsibility of the Interior Ministry. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has warned Ijaz could be prevented from leaving the country if requested by the parliamentary committee probing the scandal.

“It seems like a well-orchestrated trap to kill him hold Mansoor Ijaz indefinitely in Pakistan,” said Sheikh, his lawyer.

Ijaz has accused the former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, of crafting the memo with the support of President Asif Ali Zardari. Both men have denied any connection to the memo, although Haqqani resigned in the wake of the scandal. The Supreme Court has prevented the former envoy from leaving the country while it is investigating the scandal.

Some observers have questioned IjazÂ’s credibility. Those questions increased last week after a music video surfaced in which Ijaz acted as a commentator for a female wrestling match in which both women eventually ripped off their bikinis. Ijaz claimed he didnÂ’t know there would be nudity in the video.

One of the reasons the memo scandal has generated so much controversy is the rampant anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. The memo offered to replace PakistanÂ’s national security leadership with people favorable to the US in return for help from Washington in stopping the supposed coup.

The US has provided Pakistan with billions of dollars over the past decade to help fight the Taleban and Al-Qaeda, but relations have always been defined by a lack of trust.
Posted by:Steve White

#2  The intrigues in Pakistan reminded me of this.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2012-01-24 11:07  

#1  Democracy does not stand a chance whilst the army still have the Zia mindset.

The Likes of Hamid Gul and Beg have too much power in Pakistan.

Posted by: Thumper Jones5052   2012-01-24 08:36  

00:00