US did not want me to meet with Pasha: Mansoor Ijaz
Saturday, March 17th, 2012 2:00:17 by News Pakistan Admin
LONDON/ISLAMABAD: When the memogate hearings resumed on Friday, the defendant, had a minor setback as his chief counsel threatened to quit.
Husain Haqqani though did manage to coax his lawyer Zahid Bukhari to resume cross questioning Mansoor Ijaz in the Memogate case.
This was not before Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, heading the commission, offered to have his colleagues record the statements if he was causing discomfort to Bukhari. If the lawyer still wished to leave, his assistant could continue with the questioning. If they were unwilling, Haqqani would be asked, if not the commission itself would conduct questioning.
Though, after a short recess, the court was able to continue, with Bukhari leading the defendant’s legal team.
US tried to stop me from meeting Pasha: Ijaz
When Haqqani’s counsel finally resumed, he asked Ijaz who had fixed his meeting with DG Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)?
Ijaz answered that the fixer was called Burhan (code name). He claimed to be the Lt. General’s assistant, Ijaz said.
However, before he met the ISI chief, Ijaz said he informed General James Jones and one other US official before the meeting. He was then advised not to go through with such a meeting by the US government.
Which hotel did you get that memo(pad)
Asked about writing the memo, Ijaz reiterated that it was dictated by Haqqani during a 16 minute phone call on May 9, the memo was noted down.
He said Haqqani asked him to verbally deliver the message however he typed it on the request of General James Jones.
To the question, Ijaz replied that he had no such BlackBerry Message (BBM) or email available with him in which Haqqani used the word “memo”, however, the word “message” was used which is available in the BBM’s.
He said after delivering the memo he sent a message to Haqqani and also shared the draft of the memo with him.
When the counsel asked Ijaz whether the memo was signed, he conceded that it was not. However, he continued that it was not necessary that a memo be signed, it can be delivered without a signature and Haqqani did not sign it.
“Did you record the phone call of Haqqani in which he asked you to deliver the message?” asked Bukhari to which Ijaz replied in the negative, “but I took notes”.
Ijaz said that that he spoke to Haqqani on phone for about 16 minutes. When he called Haqqani at the hotel, a person on the other side of the phone connected Ijaz through to the former Ambassadr.
To a question Ijaz said that he had maintained contact with the former Ambassador via BBM’s well before thier first meeting in 2009.
Ijaz said that during the call on May 9 Haqqani discussed the memo with him for the first time .
Bukhari then objected to the paper on which Ijaz had taken notes. It was a notepad from a hotel in Zurich. The businessman replied that while he took the notes when he was at home, however the notepad he used to write it down was taken from the hotel he stayed at some days prior.
“Do you take notepads from each hotel you stay” asked Bukhari and the laughter spread in the court room.
Bukhari pressed that Ijaz was in Zurich when he took these notes however Ijaz insisted that he was at his Monaco residence when he called Haqqani in London’s hotel adding “I can prove it”.
Bukhari asserted that Haqqani called Ijaz to request him to be mild in his articles against Pakistan, ISI and Pakistan’s nuclear capability but Ijaz was confident that Haqqani wanted a message to be delivered through him.
Ijaz said that Haqqani during the phone call told him about ground realities in Pakistan after the May 2 raid.
Tags: Ijaz, Mansoor, meet, Pasha, wantShort URL: https://islamabad.newspakistan.pk/?p=25129
Posted by News Pakistan Admin
on Mar 17 2012. Filed under Latest News.
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