No doubts about the memo: Kayani, Pasha

Tightening the noose around the mastermind of the treacherous memo, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha on Thursday unanimously told the Supreme Court that the memo was a conspiracy against the army and national security and the evidence corroborated this.
General Kayani submitted his reply to the Supreme Court in the memo case, stating that it (the memo) was “a reality” and a conspiracy had been hatched against the army and national security. The COAS said the Financial Times published Mansoor Ijaz’s article about the memo on October 10. He said he was informed about ISI chief Lt Gen Pasha’s meeting with Mansoor Ijaz on October 24 and Pasha was of the opinion that there was enough evidence to validate the authenticity of the memo.
He said the ISI chief told him that there was evidence that illustrated that Ijaz was in touch with Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani between May 9 to 11 and they exchanged text messages and phone calls. He said the spokespersons for the Foreign Ministry and the Presidency denied the memo in separate statements on October 28. He said Admiral Mike Mullen, through his spokesperson, first denied receiving the memo on November 8 but a few days later he changed his stance.
Kayani stated in his reply that during a meeting with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on November 13, he had advised that those points of the memo which were leaked were very sensitive and that a decision had to be made. According to Kayani’s reply, he insisted the prime minister summon Haqqani so he could brief the country’s leadership on the matter. “I told the prime minister that time was limited and the sooner we found out the facts the better it would be,” Kayani said in his reply. He said on November 15, he was called by the president for a meeting. He said the prime minister had already informed the president about his (Kayani’s) recommendations on the memo issue. He said President Asif Ali Zardari informed him that the decision to summon Haqqani had already been made. He said US General James Jones confirmed on November 21 that he had taken the memo to Mullen. He said he was part of a meeting that also included the prime minister, the president and the ISI chief on November 22.
“It was during this meeting that Haqqani briefed all of us and Prime Minister Gilani asked for his (Haqqani’s) resignation and ordered an investigation,” Kayani said in his reply. At the end of the reply, Kayani wrote that there was enough evidence validating the memo and there should be a full review to evaluate the circumstances and the facts behind it. He said the memo tried to decrease the morale of Pakistan Army but was unsuccessful in doing so.
LT GEN PASHA: In his four-page reply on the memo controversy, ISI chief Lt Gen Pasha stated that he was satisfied with the evidence provided by Mansoor Ijaz. He said Ijaz could not have written the article in the Financial Times without having evidence about the memo. He said the article was part of a never-ending propaganda against the ISI.
He requested the court to summon Ijaz and direct him to produce proof of the matter. He said without proof, no one could make such huge allegations in their article. He requested the court to summon the Blackberry data and Husain Haqqani’s computer and order its forensic examination. He said he would fully cooperate with the commission to be constituted by the court on the memo issue. Pasha said he had met with Ijaz on October 22 in London to learn the facts and he came to know about Ijaz’s article through the media wing of the ISI. He said the ISI was on the forefront in the security of the state.
He stated that he had told the president in his meeting with him that the memo issue should be taken seriously.
In response to the Supreme Court’s December 1 order in the memo case, except President Zardari, all the respondents submitted their replies on Thursday through Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq. Besides the army chief and ISI chief, the interior and foreign affaris secretaries also submitted their replies on Thursday through the attorney general. Haqqani and Ijaz had submitted their replies on Wednesday. The replies of the cabinet secretary, defence secretary and law secretary are yet to be filed. According to a Supreme Court handout, as already directed by the chief justice, copies of the replies filed in the Supreme had been forwarded to all the petitioners and respondents in the petitions, with the direction that if they desired to file replies on these replies, they may do so before the date of hearing, which was December 19.