Pak panel summons Haqqani, Ijaz, Pasha over memo issue

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A Pakistani Parliamentary panel probing the memo scandal has decided to summon former envoy to the US Husain Haqqani, businessman Mansoor Ijaz and ISI chief Lt Gen Shuja Ahmed Pasha to appear before it individually next month.

The Parliamentary Committee on National Security has been asked by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to conduct an inquiry into the secret memo that sought the US help to prevent a possible military takeover in Pakistan in the wake of the killing of al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden in May.

The panel's chief, senior Pakistan People's Party leader Raza Rabbani, said Haqqani, Ijaz and Pasha would be summoned to appear before the committee to present their views on the memo. "Everybody would be called individually," he told reporters last evening. The three persons are expected to be summoned after the next meeting of the committee is held before January 10. "We have circulated all the documents regarding the memo issue among the members of the committee," said Rabbani. He said the committee would use "recognised diplomatic channels" to summon Ijaz, who is an American national of Pakistani origin. Referring to a case taken up by the Supreme Court regarding the memo, he said there was a lot of difference between the hearing of such an issue in the apex court and the proceedings of the Parliamentary panel.

The apex court yesterday formed a three-judge commission to conduct an inquiry into the memo within four weeks. The memo was made public by Ijaz, who claimed he had drafted and delivered it to the US military on Haqqani's instructions. Haqqani, who resigned as envoy to the US after the scandal became public, has dismissed Ijaz's charges.