The central character in the “memogate” issue, Mansoor Ijaz, on Thursday revealed that there was threat of a military coup in Pakistan following the US operation in Abbottabad in which al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed.
During his cross-examination, Ijaz said the military posed a serious threat to the government, adding that intelligence agencies of three or four other countries had also confirmed the threat of the coup. He said he had received a draft about Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Shuja Pasha’s visit to foreign countries and about the May 2 incident. However, he refused to comment on who had sent him the draft. He said Gen Pasha had met with rulers of various countries to garner their support on the matter.
“It was on the basis of this draft that it was discovered that there was a military coup threat,” he said.
Ijaz also handed over confidential documents to the commission. The Judicial Commission, formed by the Supreme Court to investigate the scandal, released a 39-page recorded statement by the US businessman. He was cross-examined via a video link from the Pakistani High Commission in London.
PML-N President Nawaz Sharif’s counsels Mustafa Ramday and Rasheed A Rizvi had been in London while Hussain Haqqani’s counsel Zahid Bukhari and Ijaz’s counsel Akram Sheikh were attending proceedings at the Islamabad High Court.
Mansoor further claimed that he recommended action against the “dual policy” of Pakistan in his article after the Abbottabad operation which was acknowledged by Hussain Haqqani but publicly he refused to endorse his views.
He also informed about his meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari after May 2009. He said he was neither an agent of a country nor was he on the Pakistan government’s payroll. Ijaz also revealed that the US pilot and Pakistani air traffic control were in contact with each other before the Abbottabad raid. Further proceedings were deferred for Friday.
There was threat of a coup after May 2: Ijaz
