Islamabad: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
today said there was "no truth" in the alleged secret memo
sent to the US military to help prevent a possible takeover by
the Pakistan Army after the killing of Osama bin Laden in May.
Addressing a meeting of parliamentarians of the ruling
Pakistan People`s Party, Gilani said the "Memogate" affair was
a conspiracy against his government and democracy.
The meeting was attended by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto
Zardari, the son of ailing President Asif Ali Zardari who is
recuperating in Dubai.
Bilawal, who has stepped in to take on a larger role in
the PPP`s affairs since his father travelled to Dubai on
December 6 to seek treatment for a heart condition, told the
meeting that conspiracies were hatched against the PPP
whenever it came to power.
He said the government of his slain mother, former
premier Benazir Bhutto, was ousted through false accusations,
Geo News channel quoted its sources as saying.
During the meeting, some PPP lawmakers expressed the
opinion that if Pakistan`s former envoy to the US, Husain
Haqqani, was made to resign due to allegations linking him to
the memo, then the same should be expected from Inter-Services
Intelligence chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha as he had been
accused of involvement in a move to oust President Zardari.
The meeting decided that the PPP should mount a "strong
response" to the Memogate scandal instead of surrendering, the
channel reported.
The PPP-led government has been at the centre of a storm
since Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz made public
the alleged memo that was delivered to former US military
chief Mike Mullen a week after the raid that killed bin Laden.
The chiefs of the army and the ISI have asked the Supreme
Court to conduct a thorough inquiry into the memo while the
government has contended that the probe should be done by a
parliamentary panel.
PTI
