The Pentagon has said that retired chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen was confident that the memo delivered by Mansoor Ijaz was not sent by President Asif Ali Zardari. A spokesman for Mullen asserted that the former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff committee never met or knew the central figure in the controversy. “Mullen never met Pakistani American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who has alleged that Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani asked for assistance in getting a message from President Asif Ali Zardari to the then top US military leader,” Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby told reporters.
Asserting that the admiral did not take the alleged secret memorandum seriously as it was “not signed” and there was no indication that it was coming from the Pakistani president, Kirby said, adding that the contents of the said letter were not reliable and authenticated. Asked about a Pakistani media report that former national security adviser Gen James Jones had admitted to carrying the memo to Mullen, he said: “I am not going to speak to Gen Jones participation in it and if he is speaking that is certainly his account.”
‘Mullen confident memo not sent by Zardari’
