ISB 15-12-2011_Layout 1 12/15/2011 1:25 AM Page 1
Imran dares govt to keep people away from Karachi rally
Cabinet committee shelves privatisation plan for PSEs
British prime minister snubs calls to renegotiate with EU
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PROFIT | PAGE 01
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pakistantoday.com.pk
rs15.00 vol ii no 168 22 pages islamabad — peshawar edition
Gilani hits back at ‘conspirators’ g g
PM says an incumbent parliamentarian is still in touch with Mansoor Ijaz Says Zardari was sent for treatment in Dubai because of threats to his life ISLAMABAD TAHIR NIAZ
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani hit back on Wednesday at the ‘conspirators’ who took the memogate controversy to the Supreme Court, saying an incumbent parliamentarian was still in touch with Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who was a man of “questionable credentials”. “I would not name him but I want to tell you that a sitting parliamentarian is still in touch with Mansoor Ijaz,” the prime minister insisted while responding to the points raised by members of the Upper House of parliament regarding the memogate scandal. The prime minister said: “If they (conspirators) have taken the issue to the Supreme Court to prove who was behind the memo, their intentions are very clear. Should we take a certificate of patriotism from someone? If so, we should rather
say goodbye to politics,” he added. Though the prime minister said he had no objection to the conspirators’ move to take the issue to the apex court, he termed it a conspiracy against
the president who, he added, was part of parliament. “What do they (conspirators) want to achieve?” he asked, adding that Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani was made to resign. However, he said no one should be condemned unheard. “I took the resignation from Haqqani in the presence of the president, army chief and ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) DG,” he said, adding that Haqqani had been given a chance to clarify his position. The premier said Wali Khan, Maulana Maudodi and Nawab Akbar Bugti had also been declared traitors. “This trend should come to an end… otherwise I fear another debacle like East Pakistan,” he warned. He warned further that the country could face disintegration if the constitution was not adhered to in letter and spirit. continued on page 04
‘Pasha sought Arab approval to oust Zardari’ MONITORING DESK In a claim that is all but guaranteed to send further shock waves ripping through Pakistan’s corridors of power, British newspaper The Independent said in an article published on Wednesday that the ‘evidence’ offered by PakistaniAmerican businessman Mansoor Ijaz, a central figure in the memogate controversy, in support of his allegations also revealed a second clandestine, rival plot to remove President Asif Ali Zardari
from office. The article quotes a section of the Blackberry Messenger (BBM) conversation where Ijaz informs the recipient on the other end – he claims that it was Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani - that “senior Arab leaders” had given the green light for Zardari to be evicted from the Presidency, merely hours after the memo highlighting the president’s own plight with the continued on page 04
was there ever going to be a coup? | page 15
thursday, 15 december, 2011 Muharram-ul-haram 19, 1433
Zardari discharged from hospital but no word on return g
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President moves to his residence in Dubai Health certificate reports left arm numbness, transient episode of loss of consciousness ISLAMABAD
P
MIAN ABRAR
RESIDENT Asif Ali Zardari got a clean bill of health from his physicians on Wednesday and was discharged from hospital to move to his Dubai residence for rest, finally putting to rest speculations about his condition. However, there was no clear word from the government whether or not the president would return and take rest at the Presidency or if he would be resting at his residence in Jumeirah, a posh residential area in Dubai. “Actually, it has not yet been decided whether [his] rest at home will be in Dubai or in Islamabad. It depends on whether doctors permit him to travel after discharge. It should be clear tomorrow, God willing,” said Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar when asked if the president would return before December 27 to attend the death anniversary of his wife, slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The certificate issued by the American Hospital further confused the situation as it said: “All investigations were within normal
range and he was kept for observation for a few more days and (he) is planned to be discharged on December 15, 2011, to rest at home as advised and to continue on his regular heart medications.” This again added to the controversy about his return, as there was no specific mention about how long he was advised to rest and whether he was in a condition to travel. continued on page 04