Former Pakistani ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani has been caught in a showdown between Pakistan’s army and civilian leaders, and now says he fears for his safety, Yahoo News said on Saturday. Haqqani was recalled to Islamabad in November amid accusations by a Pakistani-American businessman of involvement in the delivery to American officials of a memo accusing the Pakistani military of plotting a coup. The former ambassador has since sought refuge in the home of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani out of concern for his security, Reuters reported Friday.
“I just want my media trial and harassment to end,” Haqqani, a former scholar at Boston University, told Yahoo News by email Friday. “If anyone thinks they can file charges against me, I will face them in court with due process. But to keep claiming that I somehow jeopardised Pakistani national security by joining an individual in sending a memo consigned by its recipient to the dustbin is absurd and unjust.” On Thursday, Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Mark Kirk issued a statement expressing alarm at reports of harassment and threats against Haqqani.
“We are increasingly troubled by Ambassador Haqqani’s treatment since he returned home to Pakistan, including the travel ban imposed on him,” the statement read. “We urge Pakistani authorities to resolve this matter swiftly and consistent with civilian rule of law and to prevent the judicial commission investigating Ambassador Haqqani from becoming a political tool for revenge against an honorable man.”
A travel ban has been imposed on Haqqani while a Pakistan judiciary commission undertakes an investigation into the affair. It was launched by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who alleged an October Financial Times op-ed that he had delivered a memo to American officials in the wake of the US killing of Osama bin Laden last year seeking to stave off a Pakistani military coup.
The memo, Ijaz has subsequently asserted in various, sometimes-conflicting accounts, was delivered to then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen on behalf of Haqqani and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. It reportedly sought help in sidelining units of Pakistan’s military and intelligence service sympathetic to jihadi militants.
