Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is furious with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani for statements criticising the army and has demanded that they be clarified or withdrawn, Reuters reported on Saturday quoting “a senior military source”.
“The army chief complained to the president about the prime minister’s statements, and said they needed to be either clarified or withdrawn,” the source told Reuters. “He said such statements were divisive and made the country more vulnerable.” In an interview with Chinese media, Gilani had said the army chief and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general’s replies to the Supreme Court were “unconstitutional”, infuriating the military’s high command, who issued a stern press release. As angry as Kayani is, the source said, the council of senior military commanders is even angrier, the source said. “There is a lot of pressure by the main corps commanders on the army chief regarding the statements of the prime minister,” the source said. President Asif Ali Zardari met Kayani in an attempt to mend fences on Saturday. “The current security situation was discussed,” a presidential spokesman said, without giving any details. The Presidency, however, did say that there was no truth to the reports that Gen Kayani expressed anger at the prime minister’s comments. “A section of the media has speculated on the contents of discussion between the president and army chief in the meeting, the reports, without quoting sources, are hypothetical, based on conjecture and in the realm of speculation,” the president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said in a statement.
Gilani’s criticism divisive, Kayani tells Zardari
