Islamabad: Former Pakistan's ambassador to
US Husain Haqqani on Monday said that the right of Pakistani-
American businessman Mansoor Ijaz to depose before a judicial
panel probing the memo scandal should be withdrawn if he
failed to appear before the panel on Tuesday.
In an application filed with the three-judge commission
appointed by the Supreme Court, Haqqani said Ijaz should lose
his right to testify on the memo issue if he failed to make an
appearance tomorrow as he had been given adequate
opportunities to testify.
Islamabad: Former Pakistan's ambassador to
US Husain Haqqani on Monday said that the right of Pakistani-
American businessman Mansoor Ijaz to depose before a judicial
panel probing the memo scandal should be withdrawn if he
failed to appear before the panel on Tuesday.
In an application filed with the three-judge commission
appointed by the Supreme Court, Haqqani said Ijaz should lose
his right to testify on the memo issue if he failed to make an
appearance tomorrow as he had been given adequate
opportunities to testify.
Mohammad Farogh Naseem, a leading constitutional lawyer,
questioned the stand taken by Ijaz, saying he had failed to
provide "sufficient cause" for his decision not to come to
Pakistan.
While it was legally possible for the judicial commission
to go abroad to question Ijaz, such a deposition would not
allow for proper cross-examination, he told the media.
Noting that police had been deputed for Ijaz's security,
he questioned the American businessman's demand that an army
battalion should protect him in Pakistan.
"If the commission believes that Ijaz did not come to
Pakistan despite being given adequate security, it may not go
abroad to record his statement," he said.
Though deposition via a video link was allowed under
Pakistani laws, the commission would have to consider whether
this would cause prejudice to Husain Haqqani, Naseem said.
Haqqani was forced to resign as Pakistan's envoy to the
US after Ijaz claimed he drafted and delivered a memo to the
US military on Haqqani's instructions.
The alleged memo had sought US help to prevent a possible military coup in Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden
in May last year.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 00:03