The ‘memo’ allegedly sent by President Asif Ali Zardari through Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz to the United States administration seeking its help to prevent a military coup against his government assured Washington that Pakistan’s nuclear security system would be made “transparent” and, in case of need, the American military boots would be allowed on Pakistani soil.
The memo controversy started when Ijaz alleged in a Financial Times column last month that “a senior Pakistani diplomat” had asked him for assistance in getting a memo from President Asif Ali Zardari to the top US military official at the time, Admiral Mike Mullen. Though the presidency and the foreign office denied that any such memo had been sent, the episode strained the civil-military relations with subsequent disclosures by Ijaz. Ijaz had written that Zardari feared a military takeover following the US raid in Abbottabad on May 2 in which Osama bin Laden was killed, and wanted Washington to prevent an army coup. “The new national security team will eliminate Section ‘S’ of the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) charged with maintaining relations to the Taliban, Haqqani network, etc. This will dramatically improve relations with Afghanistan,” the memo said. Ijaz said the memo was delivered to Admiral Mullen at 2pm on May 10.
An official who wished to remain unnamed said the memo also contained some other alarming lines that had created ripples in the military circles. “The memo assured the Obama administration that a viable and transparent nuclear security system will be put in place by Pakistan,” he said, adding that this suggested that Pakistan did not have a credible system in place.
He said the military leaders now wondered whether some elements in the ruling circles in Islamabad believed that the present security system of Pakistan’s nuclear programme was not transparent. “The military leaders are deeply concerned about this,” he said. He said there was also an assurance in the memo that the US military boots would be allowed on the ground in Pakistani in case it was demanded by Washington.
The official said this assurance had been extended to Washington in the memo despite the fact that the army was opposed to it tooth and nail and would never accept it.
Admiral Mullen initially denied receiving the memo from Ijaz but on Thursday his former spokesman Captain John Kirby said Mullen initially had no recollection of such a memo but was later able to track it down. He said the admiral did not find the memo at all credible and took no note of it.
Ijaz did not name Pakistani Ambassador to Washington Hussain Haqqani as the “senior diplomat” in question, but the military authorities have conveyed to the president and prime minister that it was by all means Haqqani and it was proven by their investigations into the memo controversy.
Haqqani has offered to resign but the army leadership wanted him to return and face an enquiry about who had asked him write a memo that according to many observers fell in the realm of treason and conspiracy against the state. However, others differ by saying that Pakistan’s history was replete with such incidents and that US help being sought for one thing or the other could not be dubbed as treason.
“He (Haqqani) is expected to arrive in Islamabad in a couple of days. He has been asked by the president to make it soon to Islamabad to explain his position on the memo issue,” said an official.
In an interview on Thursday, Haqqani said President Zardari would make a decision about his future. He confirmed that he would come to Pakistan in a couple of days.
Haqqani said that he had offered to resign to send a message to those trying to destabilise democracy. “The memo is just an excuse and democracy is the real target,” he said.
PRESIDENCY BACKTRACKS: In an apparent backtracking, the Presidency denied on Thursday that it had received any letter from Haqqani offering to resign, a day after acknowledging that it had.
When asked to comment on the issue, Analyst Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi told Pakistan Today that he differed with the notion that sending a memo to Washington allegedly by the Presidency was tantamount to treason and conspiracy against the state. “In the past, it has happened as well and one such instance was of (Punjab Chief Minister) Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to Washington in September 1999 seeking US help against a possible coup at the time,” he said.
He said the US had also cautioned against the coup in Pakistan at that time but despite that it had happened and the army took over. “My point is that the US’ role has always been large in Pakistan,” he said.