Memogate Commission’s report claims ex-envoy to U.S. Haqqani authored memo

Islamabad, A report submitted in the Supreme Court by the judicial commission probing into the Memogate scandal has claimed that former envoy to the United States, Husain Haqqani, had authored the confidential memo.

The scandal had started when Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz claimed last year of having received a message from Haqqani to deliver a confidential memo to Admiral Mike Mullen, regarding a possible military takeover in Pakistan, reports The Express Tribune.

The commission further informed the court that the memo was not a farce, but a reality, and that the motive of the memo was to assure the U.S. that the civilian government of Pakistan is its ally.

The report stated that being an ambassador, it did not “suit” Haqqani to give such assurances to a foreign country.

The Supreme Court has ordered Haqqani to come back to Pakistan, and has also sought a reply from Haqqani regarding the commission’s report. The apex court has also ordered that the report be made public.

The memo had contained a request to convey a “strong, urgent and direct message to Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani” that communicates Washington’s demand for him and the former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief General (retd) Shuja Pasha to “end their brinkmanship aimed at bringing down the civilian apparatus”.

Reacting to the commissions report, Haqqani tweeted on the micro-blogging website Twitter, saying that the commission’s proceedings were one-sided.

“One-sided proceedings of Commission that refused to hear me will be challenged by my lawyers,” Haqqani tweeted.

Haqqani also said the report aimed to “distract” people’s attention from other issues, adding that no one had the right to judge his patriotism.