Beg claims innocence, ready to face probe

Former army chief Gen (r) Aslam Beg Mirza on Wednesday said although he had reservations over the Supreme Court verdict in the Asghar Khan case, he was willing to face investigation by any government authority and was also ready to face punishment if found guilty of doling out money to politicians to manipulate the 1990 elections. In an interview to a private TV channel, the retired army chief said the verdict passed in the Asghar Khan case was an insult to the nation’s security institutions, adding that Asghar Khan was a traitor, but the SC verdict had made him a hero. The former COAS said he never knew that Inter-Services Intelligence chief Asad Durrani was distributing money among politicians.
Beg said he neither got involved in politics nor did he need to keep an eye over the activities of ISI, as it fell under the jurisdiction of the Presidency. He said the ISI was first allowed to meddle in politics by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s regime. The former army chief said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif had not accepted the bribe, and this was confirmed to him by former PPP interior minister Naseerullah Babar. He claimed that Sarwar Cheema pocketed Rs 500,000, Meraj Khalid Rs 200,000, Ghulam Mustafa Khar Rs 2,000,000, while Hafeez Pirzada bagged Rs 3 million. Beg said the SC verdict would benefit the government and would result in a delay in the election.