GILANI, KAYANI smoothen ruffled feathers

As the memo issue continues to rip through Pakistan’s politics, the developments on Friday suggested that the situation, which had apparently been seen as if it would end up in a confrontation between the army and the government, has diffused with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani meeting Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and both stressing the need for unity in facing the challenges.
“The prime minister and the army chief underscored the significance of national unity to address the challenges faced by the nation,” said an official statement issued after the meeting between the army chief and the prime minister, which took place after General James Jones issued an affidavit that seemingly exonerated Husain Haqqani saying that the language used in the memo was that of Mansoor Ijaz. Taking serious note of the rumours regarding a confrontation over the memo issue, the prime minister strongly rejected the notion and reiterated that the government of Pakistan and its institutions remained committed to their constitutional roles and obligations to a democratic and prosperous future for the country.
“The government’s stance regarding jurisdiction of the court on the memo issue was still to be heard by the court,” the statement said, adding that the prime minister and the army chief also agreed that replies forwarded by the COAS and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief were in response to the notice of the court, through proper channel and in accordance with the rules of business, and should not be misconstrued as a standoff between the army and the government.
AFFIDAVIT: Meanwhile, former US national security adviser James Logan Jones sent his affidavit to Asma Jahangir, Husain Haqqani’s counsel in the Supreme Court, unambiguously saying that the former ambassador had nothing to do with the memo. “Before May 9, 2011, I received a phone call from Mansoor Ijaz. I have known Mr Ijaz in a personal capacity since 2006. During the call, Mr Ijaz mentioned that he had a message from the ‘highest authority’ in the Pakistan government which he asked me to pass on to then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen,” claimed James Jones in the affidavit.
The affidavit will be submitted before the Supreme Court (SC) on December 19. A nine-member larger bench of the SC headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will hear the memo case.
Jones said: “At no time during the call do I remember Mr Ijaz mentioning Ambassador Haqqani, and he gave me no reason to believe that he was acting at the direction of Husain Haqqani, with his participation, or that Mr Haqqani had knowledge of the call or the contents of the message.” He said further that he informed Ijaz that he would not forward an oral message of this type to Admiral Mullen and that if he wanted anything forwarded it would have to be in writing. He said he received an email on May 9 on his personal address from Ijaz attaching an unsigned memo. “The memo was not marked classified or restricted. It was my understanding that this memo was related to the ongoing investigation in Pakistan,” Jones said in his affidavit.
He was of the view that the contents of the memo were similar in nature to the telephonic discussion he had with Ijaz a day or two earlier. “Mr Ijaz again stated that the memo was authorised by the ‘highest authority’ within the Pakistan government,” Jones said, adding that Ijaz asked him to deliver the memo to Admiral Mullen. “It was my assumption that the memo was written by Ijaz, since it had essentially been put into writing in the language he (Ijaz) had used in our telephone conversation earlier.
I do not recall whether Mr Ijaz claimed that Ambassador Haqqani had anything to do with the creation of the memo,” Jones said, adding that he had no reasons to believe that Ambassador Haqqani had any role in the creation of the memo or that he had any prior knowledge of the memo.
MANSOOR IJAZ BACKTRACKS: Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz on Friday claimed that he was informed by his American intelligence sources about the visits of ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha to some Arab countries and also that he talked to people the world over to get to the reality of the issue, though he was adamant not to comment on his “intelligence sources”.
Talking to the host of Geo TV talk show ‘Lekin’, Ijaz said Pasha visited several Arab countries to talk on the issue of Osama bin Laden’s death and that he did not say the general was out to get a thumbs-up from the leaders of the oil-rich region. He said further that there may be some other objectives for General Pasha’s visits.
In response to a question, Ijaz said he got to know the reality of the contents of the memo and whatever Husain Haqqani was telling him was simultaneously being confirmed. “By May 9, I was convinced of the claims by Haqqani about the removal of the government,” Ijaz said. He also said that Haqqani was lying to Pakistanis, “but I can prove my stance in front of the court”.
ZARDARI ARTICLE 47: Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari, talking to senior journalist Nusrat Javeed from Dubai by telephone, said he was “OK” but doctors were not giving him permission to travel. The president said Article 47 of the constitution could not be invoked against him since he was “OK”. How it could be possible, he questioned, and who would constitute the medical board and how would it be formed?
He said if Article 47 was forcefully imposed on him then he would reject it. The president said by the grace of God he was fine but his children were pressing him for complete treatment and to follow the advice of the doctors. He warned that if Article 47 was forcibly applied, the new manifesto of his party would be: “I don’t accept such a constitution”. He said as soon as his doctors allowed him, he would travel and return to Pakistan.