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US involved in Muammar Gaddafi’s killing, says Putin
Railways and PIA taking last breaths
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rs15.00 Vol ii no 169
22 pages karachi
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PM says memo case is conspiracy against president, NA, Senate Says NATO, US will have to respect Pakistan’s ‘red lines’ ISLAMABAD stAff RepoRt
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that the memo case was a conspiracy against parliament because parliament consisted of the president, Senate and the National Assembly. “Targeting the president means targeting parliament. I have spoken to the president today and he said he was feeling well and would fully recover soon,” the prime minister told parliamentarians from the coalition partners here at Parliament House prior to the National Assembly session. He recalled that Pak-
istan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, while addressing a public meeting in Faisalabad, had announced that he would approach the Supreme Court if the government did not take decision on the memo issue within 10 days. “The government took the decisions within four days and referred the matter to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security but he (Sharif) still went to the Supreme Court,” the prime minister said. Gilani said all the policy decisions would be taken by parliament because it was accountable to the people and therefore the authority to formulate na-
tional policies rested with it. ‘RED LINES’: Later, giving a police statement in the National Assembly, Gilani said the US and NATO forces would have to respect Pakistan’s “red lines”, which were sovereign equality, no unilateral actions inside Pakistan or against it and no transgression of its territorial frontiers. He said there would be no compromise on the country’s sovereignty, its legitimate interests, and that its territorial frontiers would be defended at all costs.
president, pm not linked to memo | page 04
US to blame if Pakistan fails in war on terror: Khar g g
FM says Pakistan has two agreements with US Rabbani says all agreements made by previous govts ISLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Thursday the suspension of $700 million aid by the United States would hamper Pakistan’s ability to fight the ongoing war against terrorism and the US would be responsible for Pakistan’s failure in the war. A source told Pakistan Today that the minister made these remarks during her briefing to the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting here at Parliament House. “The US Congress has passed a bill to block $700 million in assistance for the Coalition Support Fund to Pakistan. This would affect our ability to fight the ongoing war against terrorism. If we fail in this war, the US will be responsible for this failure because Islamabad cannot win this war alone. We will use the diplomatic channels of our friendly nations to take up this issue with the US authorities to get this decision reversed,” the source quoted the minister as telling the committee members. The NSC meeting took up a
two-point agenda – recommendations of the Envoys’ Conference to reevaluate and reassess the country’s relations with US, NATO and ISAF forces in the backdrop of the NATO attacks, and the memogate scandal in detail. The source said that apart from Khar, the defence secretary also briefed the committee on both subjects, stating that there were verbal agreements between the US and Pakistan on drone attacks, provision of air corridor and logistic support to the US and NATO forces engaged in the war in Afghanistan, but no written agreement was available either with the Defence Ministry or Foreign Ministry. Later, Khar told reporters that following the attack on Pakistani checkposts, relations with the US were put on hold for the time being, and a way forward for the government in this regard would be recommended by the joint sitting of parliament. “We have submitted the input of the Envoys’ Conference to the NSC which were broad in nature and were drafted in light of our national interests
PROFIT | PAGE 01
pakistantoday.com.pk
Friday, 16 december, 2011 muharram-ul-haram 20, 1433
Targeting Zardari means targeting parliament, says Gilani g
PM questions slow progress on utilisation of $2.9b ADB funds
and objectives. The NSC will use this input as a working paper and it will make its recommendations, which would be presented to the joint sitting of parliament. After a nod from parliament, the government will be able to take this partnership ahead,” she added. Asked to comment on the blockade of $700 million in US aid to Pakistan, the minister said Islamabad was less concerned about what the US Congress said and more concerned about what the Pakistani parliament wanted. Asked how many agreements were signed by Islamabad with Washington, the minister said there were two agreements with the US. Continued on page 04
No doubts about the memo: Kayani, Pasha COAS says memo a conspiracy against army and national security g ISI DG says he was satisfied with evidence provided by Mansoor Ijaz g
ISLAMABAD
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MAsooD ReHMAN
IGHTENING the noose around the mastermind of the treacherous memo, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha on Thursday unanimously told the Supreme Court that the memo was a conspiracy against the army and national security and the evidence corroborated this. General Kayani submitted his reply to the Supreme Court in the memo case, stating that it (the memo) was “a reality” and a conspiracy had been hatched against the army and national security. The COAS said the Financial Times published Mansoor Ijaz’s article about the memo on October 10. He said he was informed about ISI chief Lt Gen Pasha’s meeting with Mansoor Ijaz on October 24 and Pasha was of the opinion that there was enough evidence to validate the authenticity of the memo. He said the ISI chief told him that there was evidence that illustrated that Ijaz was in touch with Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani between May 9 to 11 and they exchanged text messages and phone calls. He said the spokespersons for the Foreign Ministry and the Presidency denied the memo in separate statements on October 28. He said Admiral Mike Mullen, through his spokesperson, first denied receiving the memo on November 8 but a few days later he changed his stance. Kayani stated in his reply that during a meeting with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on November 13, he had advised that those points of the memo which were leaked were very sensitive and that a decision had to be made. According to Kayani’s reply, he insisted the prime minister summon Haqqani so he could brief the country’s leadership on the matter. “I told the prime minister that time was limited and the sooner we found out the facts the better it would be,” Kayani said in his reply. He said on November 15, he was called by the president for a meeting. He said the prime minister had already informed the president about his (Kayani’s) recommendations on the memo issue. He said President Asif Ali Zardari informed him that the decision to summon Haqqani had already been made. He said US General James Jones confirmed on November 21 that he had taken the memo to Mullen. He said he was part of a meet-
ing that also included the prime minister, the president and the ISI chief on November 22. “It was during this meeting that Haqqani briefed all of us and Prime Minister Gilani asked for his (Haqqani’s) resignation and ordered an investigation,” Kayani said in his reply. At the end of the reply, Kayani wrote that there was enough evidence validating the memo and there should be a full review to evaluate the circumstances and the facts behind it. He said the memo tried to decrease the morale of Pakistan Army but was unsuccessful in doing so. LT GEN PASHA: In his four-page reply on the memo controversy, ISI chief Lt Gen Pasha stated that he was satisfied with the evidence provided by Mansoor Ijaz. He said Ijaz could not have written the article in the Financial Times without having evidence about the memo. He said the article was part of a neverending propaganda against the ISI. He requested the court to summon Ijaz and direct him to produce proof of the matter. He said without proof, no one could make such huge allegations in their article. He requested the court to summon the Blackberry data and Husain Haqqani’s computer and order its forensic examination. He said he would fully cooperate with the commission to be constituted by the court on the memo issue. Pasha said he had met with Ijaz on October 22 in London to learn the facts and he came to know about Ijaz’s article through the media wing of the ISI. He said the ISI was on the forefront in the security of the state. Continued on page 04
military mum on Coup Charges | page 04 ijaz submits notes impliCating haqqani | page 24