No more chances for Husain Haqqani

Holding former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani “in disobedience of the tribunal’s order and his own affidavit submitted before the Supreme Court”, the memo commission on Friday directed the ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs to ensure his presence on April 12 (Thursday) at the Islamabad High Court for recording statement in the memo scandal.
The commission still ‘expressed great restraint’ and did not avail the four options available with it that included issuance of his warrants for arrest, attachment of his property in Pakistan, initiation of contempt of court proceedings and criminal proceedings for disobeying the commission’s orders. The commission earlier, provided Haqqani a number of opportunities to appear before the commission but he declined to come to Pakistan first due to security reasons and then on medical grounds.
The commission ordered Haqqani to be present on the next date of hearing with his two Blackberry handsets that were in his use during his tenure as ambassador in the US and later went missing. A notice in this regard will be served at his house in the USA through Pakistan’s embassy in Washington, the commission ordered.
Earlier, when Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq did not take a clear stance on the procedure to bring Haqqani back to Pakistan, chairman of the commission, Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked: “What impression would the world get when the government of Pakistan is unable to bring its former ambassador to the country. What credibility it would have when it cannot produce its former ambassador for recording the statement before the commission. It is a complete insult of the authority of the government of Pakistan”. Director General (Americas) of the Foreign Office (FO), Sohail Khan, told the commission that the former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, visited London in the first week of May last year without getting formal permission from the authorities concerned, as no record in this regard was available with the Pakistan’s embassy in Washington. He said the two handsets that were in use of the former ambassador and later went missing were the property of the government of Pakistan.
The commission asked the DG Americas whether Husain Haqqani reported to the Foreign Office whenever he met or contacted on phone Mansoor Ijaz during his stay in Washington as ambassador of Pakistan. He told the commission that he had gone through the ‘fresh receipts’ adding there was no mention of Haqqani either meeting Mansoor Ijaz or talking to him on phone.
The commission asked the Foreign Office official whether it was required under the rules by the ambassador to formally inform the FO about any important and significant meeting, telephonic conversation with some one else. He replied usually the ambassadors did so, however, he added it was the discretion of the ambassador to inform the FO or not.
The commission also asked the Foreign Office to inform it whether Haqqani had reported losing his two Blackberry sets in question.
The FO officials presented a copy of the contract agreement of Husain Haqqani as ambassador to the commission under which Official Secret Act, Civil Servant Rules, Civil Service Regulations and other rules and orders issued from time to time shall apply on him.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa said according to clause four of the agreement, the ambassador upon recalling or transfer was supposed to handover all the government property in his use to the Head of Chancery and questioned whether Haqqani handed over the two Blackberry sets. The FO DG said he would check from Washington embassy in this regard.
Counsel of Mansoor Ijaz alleged that Haqqani was still using secret fund available at the discretion of the ambassador for a ‘cover up’ of the memo scandal upon which the commission sought details of the utilization of the said fund during April 2011 to the end year that the commission would go through in-camera due to sensitivity of the information.
The commission asked the counsel of Haqqani to convey his client to submit waiver consent to RIM for obtaining data containing communication record of messages between Haqqani and Mansoor Ijaz.